What Lasts Forever And What Is Already Lost
by Starlit Skyline
Summary: Friendships last forever, at least, their supposed to.
1. How It Began

**A/N: This is a random plot bunny that seemed interesting to me and this is probably the only Monsuno fic I'll ever write, but I decided to post it and see what people think of it. And as many of you may have guessed - it's about the Core-Tech Team.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Monsuno in any shape or form...**

* * *

How It Began

_Beyal sat on the far edge of the camp, his dark eyes cast downward. He sometimes glanced sideways at his teammates, just for a couple of seconds so they wouldn't see him. Dax was trying to flirt with Jinja while she cooked their dinner. Jinja was ignoring him as always and Chase and Bren were sitting side by side in the small circle of rocks in front of the timid fire on top of witch lay a pot full of some kind of stew._

_Night was falling fast but Beyal found that the ruby and crimson of the sunset brought him no peace like it used to. Back at the Temple, where the white of the snow overcast any other color, the mosaic of the sunsets and sunrises were the only exceptions from that monotony. They brought a new sense of life to the crisp of the mountains, and a sense of warmth to Beyal._

_Now, however – he felt a sense of apathy and disinterest. Nothing seemed to hold his attention for long. Every time he tried to meditate, his focus was always drawn away from the task at hand and back to Bren's harsh words towards him and Dax._

_Beyal tightened his grip on his knees, his chin resting on them. He glanced back at his friends only to find Jinja standing right behind him._

_"You okay Beyal? You seem a bit distant lately." She said, bending over a bit so they were at eye level. He looked away from her, in the short time with the team he had learned that Jinja was extremely talented in reading feelings, but there was something that he didn't want to share with anyone right now. He hummed softly in reply._

_He expected her to go back to camp and leave him alone but instead he felt a hand perch itself on his shoulder. "Hey, listen if it's about what Bren said he didn't really mean it. He was just angry that Chase wanted to leave, but Chase is back now so you don't have to worry about it."_

_That didn't make sense. Why would a person say something if they didn't mean it?_

_He knew that Bren and Jinja often used sarcasm for joking but Bren was certainly not joking when he said he should have never joined the team. That only left another option – a_ lie._ But that was bogus. Bren mean what he said, there was no doubt about it._

_Before he could ponder about this some more Beyal felt Jinja's hand slip from his shoulder._

_"Stew's done. Hurry up before Dax and Bren eat it all." He heard her say. He sighed, he didn't feel like eating. But that would be unfair to Jinja, she had spent a lot of time preparing dinner and it would be disrespectful to just skip it. He stood up, dusting off his cloak._

_"Oh and Beyal." He turned to face Jinja this time. The girl gave him a small smile. "You are part of this team, don't forget that."_

_She turned around quickly and started walking off towards the camp fire "Come on, before those morons eat everything."_

_Beyal nodded, allowing a smile to tug at his lips as he followed Jinja back into camp. Maybe Jinja was right, maybe everything would be alright._

Beyal woke from his sleep with a jolt, his hands shaking as he lifted himself from to a sitting position. It was the third time he had had that dream since the fight erupted between the members of the Core-tech team. But it was over now, their friendships mended and became stronger.

It was in the past, so why couldn't he just leave it there?

Why was he constantly seeing things from the past? He had had no visions in a while and it was begging to worry him.

Beyal shook his head. It was simply pointless, better to 'sleep it off' as Dax would put it, and laying back down - he did.

* * *

Inside a well armed fortress in the midst of the Sahara desert, in a room filled with riches foreign to these sandy dunes, sat Charlemagne. The great S.T.O.R.M. general was now defeated and humiliated, spending her days by plotting revenge against the Core-tech team. Her main target -Chase Suno and Dax.

A mechanical door slid open behind her but she didn't turn around to face the person who came in. It was just another nameless scientist, someone she couldn't care less about "Madam, the Monsuno is ready."

A wicked smile crossed Charlemagne's lips. Finally, she would have her revenge "Good, proceed as planned."

* * *

**You could read this as BeyalXJinja all though it's supposed to be friendship, but yeah, I guess it's in the eye of beholder.**


	2. The Hot Savanna Sun

Special thanks to **JinjaGirl25**, **Cheetha Suno** and **Myra the Sark** for reviewing.

**Disclaimer: I put one at the beginning, I think everyone got it...**

* * *

The Hot Savanna Sun

Chase looked over the seemingly endless plains of the savanna, his eyes shielded from the blazing sun by his hand. He sighed, turning to his four teammates. "Sorry guys, I don't see anything."

Dax crossed his arms across his chest, clearly annoyed "Well, what are we gonna do baby Suno?"

Chase sighed again, sometimes he really hated being the leader. He climbed off the rock he had stood on "Not sure." he answered truthfully.

"Well, why don't you use Evo to fly over the plains and see if you could spot any waterholes?" Bren suggested, while he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Glasses, are you serious? They'll track us if we do that!" Dax protested, his bad mood was skyrocketing.

"It was just a suggestion, Dax." Jinja retorted. When it came to arguing there was no one who could outmatch Jinja, particularly when she was irritated by the heat. All of them were actually, especially Beyal. The monk had lived in the mountains, a land of everlasting snow - African heat didn't sit too well with him. But so far he hadn't complained. An idea hit Jinja.

"Hey Beyal, can you predict where the waterholes are? Or a city or village nearby?"

Beyal blinked, caught off guard. He wasn't expecting the question, he wasn't even paying much attention to the conversation. His head throbbed, he was having a splitting headache ever since he woke up and his focus was at it's minimum. "I apologize Jinja, may you repeat the question?"

Jinja was a bit surprised by the response. Beyal was usually the most focused of all of them, even ignorant Bren knew that. "Um, yeah, I asked if you could predict if we will find a waterhole."

Beyal felt a pang of guilt at the expectant faces of his friends. How could he tell them that he didn't know? He was the one who _always _knew what was their new destination, what was their next step. How could he tell Chase he hadn't had any visions of his _father?_

How could he tell them he had _no_ visions at all anymore?!

Beyal took a calming breath, his head hurt even more then before.

"Hey, you okay litl' monkfish?" Dax asked in a casual tone, but there was a flicker of concern in his eyes.

Beyal massaged his temples, hoping to ease the headache "Yes, I am quite alright. I have a slight headache but it is nothing serious." he paused for a brief moment, then continued hesitantly "I am sorry, but I didn't have any visions." '_at all' _he added silently.

Chase waved it off. He knew they couldn't always rely on Beyal's visions to find their way, looks like they'll be doing it the hard way this time."It's OK Beyal, we'll just think of something else."

"Yeah, everyone's got their off day." Jinja added.

Bren grinned mischievously "Except Jinja, every day is an off day for her."

A glare from the girl in question just made him burst out laughing, even Dax let out a chuckle. "Sorry Princess, but he's right, you need to lighten up."

Jinja sent him a glare but took the advise. Chase smiled, even with all the unbearable heat, his friends were still up to their usual antics.

"Okay, let's get going before the sun cooks us alive."

* * *

It was already noon when team Core-Tech finally found a waterhole. All five of them collapsed in various places and positions. Chase, who was the most fortunate, sat on rock. Dax honestly didn't care where his butt would end up as long as his aching legs could be off the ground and sat on the ground. Jinja collapsed next to him, laying with her arms outstretched and staring blankly at the cloudless sky. Beyal knelt next to the water, cupping it in his hands and washing his face with it. He sighed in relief, the water helped ease the constant headache.

"Man I wish it would rain." Jinja sighed exasperatedly.

"In this part of Africa? Yeah right." Bren commented sarcastically before submerging his head under the water. Like Beyal, he had sprinted straight for the water's edge.

Jinja turned her head to look at Bren and was greeted by Bren's back - or rather his bottom, since he was on all fours "Don't drink the entire waterhole Bren! An elephant drinks less than you."

"Quite right Princess, it also has a smaller behind than Bren." Dax added, amused. Bren pulled his head from the water and responded with an indignant "HEY!" which made everyone laugh.

"We should rest here for a while." Beyal finally voiced when the laughter and jokes finally died down. He moved to sit next to the rock that Chase was currently occupying, slightly leaning on it for support.

Dax stared at him wide-eyed for a moment. He didn't want to move, but he knew he had to. Dax could understand the young monk's wish to stay, the heat was the hardest on him. He didn't mean to snap, but his temper got the best of him "Ya' crazy monkfish, what if a wild animal comes here and decides it wants a hamburger with it's drink?"

The outburst was followed by surprised expressions and open staring. Jinja finally sat up, only to glare at Dax again.

Chase cleared his throat, braking the silent staring contest. Bren's attention shifted from staring at Dax and Jinja to staring at his best friend. Beyal looked up at their leader.

"We'll rest here for a while," Chase decided "we all need it and will fill the cartons with water so we can leave as quickly as possible." everyone nodded, glad to finally have a brake.


	3. Behind the Mist of Your Own Mind

Special thanks to **Myra the Sark**, **Lakota1172, ArgentinaV **and **Jinjagirl25 **for reviewing.

This is the reason why I'm paranoid...

**Disclaimer: Why do people ask questions they already know the answer to?**

* * *

Behind the Mist of Your Own Mind

It was cooler near the waterholes then the rest of the savanna and team Core Tech was enjoying just resting by them. Chase had perched himself in a tree next to the waterhole, thankful for the leafy umbrella that shielded him from the hot sun. Underneath said tree, Bren had concluded this was a perfect opportunity to eat the ice-cream he had bought in the last town they had stopped in - only to find it had melted. Jinja sat next to Bren, leaning fully on the tree's trunk.

"I told you you shouldn't have bought ice-cream. Who eats ice-cream in the African savanna?" Jinja joked and Bren was extremely grateful that Dax had decided he would take a nap, and was doing just that a little ways away from them.

The only one who wasn't in the lonely tree's shade was Beyal, who was now sitting cross-legged on the rock Chase had previously occupied, his back to his teammates.

"Apparently, someone who wants it melted. I suppose it would be called a milkshake now."

Both Jinja and Bren turned to stare at the monk, he was still facing away from them. Beyal wasn't usually the one to comment, getting so wrapped up in his own mind and visions - he was often oblivious to his surroundings. The comment was odd to them, something that was better accustomed with Dax and the two of them - even Chase had one like that from time to time. But it didn't suit Beyal, the way he said it was so detached it was simply unnerving.

"Hey, Chase, Jinja, have you noticed anything weird about Beyal?" Bren asked quietly, so Beyal couldn't hear him. Chase glanced down at his friend, not really liking where this was going.

"Bren! Just because he's a monk doesn't mean he's weird!" Jinja protested in a near whisper, eyes ablaze with a wrathful fury.

"Yeah Bren, haven't we gone over this?" Chase added sternly, mindful as the rest of them to keep his voice down.

"No, no, no! I didn't mean it like that?" Bren frantically waved his hands in front of him, still keeping his voice as quiet as possible "I mean does he seem to be acting odd to you?"

Chase and Jinja blinked and then shared a glance before looking over to Beyal.

The young monk looked as he always did, all though it was hard to tell with his back turned to them. He looked a bit different, a bit more tense then he should have been. But, even though everything looked normal on first glance, they could feel something was off. Beside Beyal's unusual stiffness, he shifted every now and then like he wasn't comfortable.

That was not normal, Beyal was always comfortable wherever they went.

Before either Chase nor Jinja could voice their thoughts, a third uninterrupted.

"Yeah."

The three of them gazed uncertainly at Dax's sleeping form, only to realize he was staring back.

"Um, Dax, how long have you been awake?" Bren asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. Dax was usually the heavy-sleeper of the group.

"Couldn't even sleep." came the simple reply.

Jinja scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest "So you decided to eavesdrop? Typical."

There was no response for a while, until-

"What do you think's up with him?" Dax asked suddenly.

He turned his head to them, shifting so his arms would be underneath it again. He was met by blank stares and an open jaw, it wasn't even funny. Not in this kind of situation.

Dax decided to elaborate. "He hasn't said much for the whole trip. No innocent curiosity, no stupid question, he hasn't even run off somewhere." he said while prompting himself up by the elbows to get a better view of Beyal. "Somethings wrong with him, I can just feel it."

There was a slight pause, in which Chase decided to abandon his post completely.

"Oh come on guys, give him a brake." he said and instantly all of their attention was on him "So, he hasn't been focused lately, maybe it's the heat. It's affecting all of us isn-?"

Dax cut him off before he could even finish "You haven't noticed, have you, baby Suno?"

Chase fell silent, not sure of what he didn't notice. He shifted uncomfortably in the tree under Dax's stern gaze.

"Noticed what?" Bren finally asked. With that, everyone's anticipation turned back to Dax.

Dax sat up before sighing. "That he's woken up in the middle of the night, every night for the past week and a half."

"What?!" Bren and Jinja yelled, totally forgetting they were supposed to be quiet. Chase jumped down from the tree top and clasped his hands over their mouths a little to late. One glance at Beyal reassured him he hadn't heard.

He let his hands rest by his side again and stood up. Bren and Jinja were in a bit of a shock, Jinja recovered first."Are you serious?"

Dax nodded, his face unreadable.

"You should talk to him." Chase said suddenly.

"What? Why me?"

"You're the one who figured it out."

Dax sighed. Standing up, he tentatively made his way to the meditating monk. He suddenly felt a foreboding feeling take over him, something that made his skin crawl with anxiety.

Just then, Beyal started to shake uncontrollably. His body began to fall backwards and before Dax realized what he was doing, he was already sprinting forward to catch him.

Sure enough, Chase, Jinja and Bren did just the same just a second later.

"What happened?!"

An array of questions blurred together as they huddled around the shaking boy on the ground. Dax was trying to hold Beyal down so he wouldn't hurt himself, but the rest of the group was too shocked to do anything.

"I don't know! One second I'm walking over to him and the next he's like this!"

Just as those words were said, Beyal let out a heart wrenching scream.

That was the last straw. Everyone set to work - Chase and Dax held Beyal down while Jinja tried to calm him. Bren just stared, in too much shock to do anything but run around and try to be helpful.

"Beyal wake up!"

"Come on lil' monkfish, wakie wakie!"

"Wake up!"

* * *

It was scary - _no,_ terrifying to be alone. It was a feeling of hopelessness, a feeling of absolute and utter terror and heart-brake, a feeling of being detached from everything else around you.

A feeling of being lost...

That was the only way to describe it, to describe what the mist brought to him.

Beyal felt as though the mist was pressing down on him, an invisible hand that gripped his very mind - forbidding him from even attempting escape.

He knew this was not real. Well, at least in the sense of the material world. This was something that took place where only the mind and soul existed, and of coarse - where the heart was the only thing that allowed free passage in and out of this 'world' as others called it. Truth be told, it wasn't so much of a separate world but an extension of the material one, where only the psyche could enter.

This was a place Beyal knew well. A place he could go to to seek answers when everything else failed.

But this place was dangerous in a way, here the mind could be lost - never to find it's way again. But those things only happened to those whose core turned sour, this was the place of last chances and redemption - a place many would never leave.

Beyal was just a visitor, someone who came here by choice and as such - could leave freely.

He had never felt this realm pressing on him with so much might. It was almost suffocating, his head throbbed and ached and he gripped it in a desperate attempt to stop the ache.

It did not stop.

Flashes and voices played with his senses, but he could not decipher who they belonged to. He knew them, they sounded so familiar, but he couldn't place them in his memory.

There were flashes of people crying, but they were to fast and blurry for their faces to be seen.

There were pleading cries of desperation for someone, but the name was always silenced before it could reach Beyal's ears.

Beyal could feel it, something terrible was on the rise but he didn't know what!

The future was showing him what was going to come, but he couldn't see it. He just knew, but knowing wasn't enough.

When his visions were clear, he could change their outcome - even though he preferred not to.

But this, this was something that was inevitable.

Something that would surely happen, but it was unknown in which way.

It was a fate that had many candidates, but only one could claim it.

Beyal knew, a terrible thing would happen soon. Something that would concern himself and his friends in some way, but he didn't know how.

There was a sudden stab of pain and another image, this one hidden almost completely by the fog.

He could make out forms of familiar Monsunos - four blue and four red. And then suddenly, a fifth appeared - a black one.

The black Monsuno attacked one of the four blue ones and another came to aid it's companion. Beyal couldn't make out which of the blue Monsunos got hit. The one who had, retreated back to it's core and a sickening scream followed.

Beyal cringed, a urge to get out of here was beginning to consume him.

He began to run, not sure where he was headed but certain he wouldn't get anywhere.

This was some kind of vision, one he never had before.

Something that gave hints but didn't show itself - the future at it's purest.

Beyal was used to clearer signs, having explored every part of his mind. His heart held no ill intent and the future deemed him worthy of it's knowledge. Trusting him not to change it's coarse.

But that was it, Beyal knew he could choose a different path.

The future was what one made of it and in the same time - destiny was set, either to be fulfilled or not.

But now, there was no choice.

A terrible fate would strike one of his own, but that fate was yet to choose a target.

He stopped running, shaking his head to rid his memory of those thoughts. He didn't want to be here anymore, he felt lost and alone. Crying - _no, _screaming out for his friends to help him.

His throat became soar after a while and he put his hands on his knees, more exhausted then he should have been.

And that's when he heard it, the soft calling of his name in the far distance.

With that, the mist's grip lessened - allowing itself to blur and lift, only to be replaced by the darkness of unconsciousness.


	4. Staying Safe Usually Gets You In Trouble

Special thanks to **EZak**,** Cheetha Suno**,** Jinjagirl25**, and **Glowblade998 **for reviewing.

Hey, just wanted to inform you that the wait between chapters will be longer from now on because of school and homework. I also have to apologize for the shortness of the chapter, I hope it was still good.

_Italic_ is for flashbacks and thoughts

**Disclaimer: Everybody knows whats supposed to be here...**

* * *

Staying Safe Usually Gets You In Trouble

Team Core-Tech was making good progress. A week had passed since the _incident _and they were nearing their destination. There was a rumor going on that Jeredy Suno was spotted on Madagascar and naturally, Chase had wanted to check it out.

They traveled like always, well, not exactly like always.

In the past week, a few changes had been made.

The root of these changes was Beyal's strange collapse. They all remembered all too vividly what took place, but none of them understood what had actually happened.

When Beyal came to a few hours after the fit, he wasn't exactly keen on telling them.

_"I think he's waking up!"_

_"Yeah, I think your right."_

_"Beyal? Can you hear us?"_

_Beyal moaned softly as his eyes finally fluttered open. He was met by four faces staring down at him. At first he was confused but then s__omething in his sleepy mind clicked. The vision!_

_He jolted upright so quickly that his teammates almost didn't have time to get out of the way. He hastily got to his feet, stumbling a little as he did and turned to face his friends, who looked even more worried then before. They all stood there, uncertain of what they should do._

_Finally, Chase stepped forward, his green eyes shimmering in concern. He put his hand on Beyal's shoulder "Beyal, you okay?" he asked tentatively._

_That was a stupid question. Chase knew, but he couldn't say anything else. Maybe Beyal would calm down a bit from just talking. The look of wild fear that had crossed Beyal's face when he woke up was simply unnerving to Chase. Those gray eyes were still so wide and fearful when Beyal finally answered. But it wasn't an answer he was hoping for._

_"No Chase Suno, I am not." his voice was quiet, but they could still hear it clearly. It was too even in their opinion, for someone that looked so scared. Beyal closed his eyes, trying to keep himself from falling apart "And none of us will be soon."_

_"What do you mean Beyal?" Bren asked, his and everybody esle's concern growing._

_"Something terrible will happen to one of us," Beyal said in that same bleak voice, opening his eyes to reveal the sadness and worry they held "To who, I don't know. In which way, I'm not sure."_

It wasn't clear to them what exactly would happen, but they had taken quite a few safety precautions to prevent it. They had agreed that no one would go running off far from camp, they'd keep lookouts whenever they rested and at night - someone would stand guard. The night guards were usually either Dax or Chase, with the occasional exception of Bren every once in a while. They hadn't let Beyal keep watch.

The group had become protective of Beyal as of late. And so they had made precautions even Beyal didn't know about. First, the disappearing act was cut short since they banned each other from going far away from their camps. Second, since there was a night guard - Beyal couldn't sneak out, or wonder around because they'd know that something was bothering him. And Beyal didn't like burdening others with his own problems.

So, the days past like that. They were nearing a town where they could board a ship that would take them to Madagascar. But they still had at least twelve more days of traveling.

And as everyone secretly kept an eye on Beyal, Beyal secretly kept an eye on everyone.

He had become a bit jumpy, even though he tried his best not to show it. He didn't have headaches anymore, but he was still distracted. He didn't dare even _try_ to meditate, in fear of what he may see. His last vision had pulled him into another realm so easily, a realm it didn't want to release him from. And that was what scared him the most - being trapped somewhere far away, where no one and nothing could reach him.

He shuddered at the thought.

For once, he hoped there were no more visions to come.

That night, Bren had taken the duty of night watchmen. Watching both was was going on out of the camp and what was going on in it. Unfortunately, Bren had gotten bored and fallen asleep in the late, midnight hours. And it was well-known that Bren was a heavier sleeper than Dax.

Beyal was awake in his sleeping-bag when he heard snoring. Good, Bren was asleep, maybe now he could ease his heavy thoughts with a relaxing walk.

* * *

Charlemagne plan was full-prof, there was no doubt in her mind about that. She smirked as she went over her plan again, Bookman was such an easy man to manipulate. He could have the others, she didn't care about what would happen to the other three, but Chase and Dax were her's. Bookman could satisfy himself with just a few bits and pieces of her grand plan.

She would use him, he was useful if nothing less. If he could really find a way to control Monsunos without the 'bond', he may prove to be a valuable asset, but for now he was her pawn. Bookman depended on her now, she was the one who gave him the means to continue his research.

Charlemange knew Bookman was a madman, she didn't care.

She would get her revenge by any means necessary, just as Bookman would get his.


	5. Danger Hides in the Shadows of Night

I'd like to thank **ice-angel90**, **Myra the Sark**, **Anyanomous131**, **JinjaGirl25**, **DragonInferno**, **Cheetha Suno** and** GlowBlade998** for reviewing last chapter, you guys are awesome!

I also have to thank DragonInferno for being so considerate(it's easier to answer here, I update it faster), a lot of thing have been happening lately but everything's okay(more or less) and I'll try to update 'Shadow of Caelum' by next weekend. If anyone was wondering why this fic is like it is, well, the reason I made this fic is very depressing so I'm not sure if you really want to know.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Monsuno but I own the plot of this story and the OCs appearing in it**

* * *

Danger Hides in the Shadows of Night

Beyal strolled along the empty plains, he knew the Kongo jungle was _relatively_ near their camp. He was curious as to what it looked like, he had been in jungles before but he liked seeing places he'd never been to. Beyal was always curious, always wanting to learn something new.

Maybe that's why growing up in the giant library of Tebab wasn't so hard for him.

Well, that and _them_.

Beyal sighed, he had new friends now but he couldn't dare forget his old ones.

_"Come on Beyal." a small boy with sliver hair whispered as he looked back to his friend. Beyal had fallen behind while they made their way through one of the secret tunnels of Tebab Temple. Beyal gave the other boy a worried look._

_"Are you sure this is a good idea, Zen?" he asked quietly. The other boy - Zen - simply shrugged at the question. A seven-year-old girl, the same age as Zen and Beyal at the time, came running back to them. And as both boys, she also had white hair. "Hey, why are you guys taking so long?"_

_"Beyal's a bit paranoid." Zen answered the shortest of the three. The girl looked at Beyal with a pleading look in her brown eyes._

_"Oh come on Beyal, aren't you curious?" she said with a nagging tone._

_"I just don't know if we should be doing this, Kanna." Beyal answered truthfully, hanging his head a little so the other two wouldn't see his face. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder._

_"Look I promise you we'll be back by down."_

But they weren't. And that was the first time the three of them sneaked out, on a clear and starlit night similar to this one. It was the first time they broke the rules and was certainly not the last. Zen and Kanna always pulled him into trouble and Master Ey had began forming a list of unusual punishments for the three of them ever since. From cleaning all the windows in the monastery to rearranging all the less important books in the library and even knitting new carpets and repairing tapestries!

Zen and Kanna always made things fun though, even studying and punishments.

How he wished they were still here.

Beyal lowered his head, wishes and dreams weren't for him - not anymore. He remembered that Kanna would constantly blabber about going to the distant lands she read about in the books of the library, she dreamed of coming face to face with all the wonders, people and animals the vast and unknown world had to offer. Zen was another story, he dreamed of going on adventures because he was just that - a explorer.

It was ironic how Beyal was now on what would have been their dream journey.

Beyal sighed, he missed them too much.

He knew he needed to let them go, but every time he tried - his heart screamed at him not to. He couldn't bring himself to forget them, they were his first thought in the morning and his last before sleep overtook him. He was sure that, if he could live one day without so much as a thought about them, his heart would leave him at peace.

But he didn't understand, for so long it hadn't bothered him. He had excepted it when it happened, so why was he feeling like this _now_?

He sighed, knowing the answer all too well. The others saw things differently then he did. They didn't face the facts and move on immediately, they took it so slow - hurting themselves even more in the process. And now he was doing the same.

Beyal had always known that his friends wouldn't want him to be sad that they were gone, they would have coaxed him to get out there and do what he always did. They always wanted him to have a dream of his own. But Beyal didn't need a dream, he was happy with everything he had then. And he was happy with what he has now.

He had wished to have his friends back, but instead - he got new ones.

Ones that were so much more different then the ones he was used to, but they were still friends - they still had those bonds, right?

Beyal scowled, why was he making questions out of answers?

He was making things complicated and confusing his own heart by doing that. There were no questions, just answers. That was the first thing he was thought and it was true. Questions were only useful for those who couldn't see the answers.

Beyal was so consumed it his internal struggles that he failed to notice a shadowy figure following him. The figure was lucky, he knew. It was usually impossible for someone like him to sneak up on a monk of the Tebab Temple, even if they were in training. But he had gotten rid of that problem not so long ago, well, almost - there were still a few loose ends that needed to be cut.

He saw the white-haired teen stop on a small hill that overlooked the slow change from grassland to jungle. Perfect. Far away from his friends and utterly alone and unsuspecting - he would be an easy target.

He would finally have what he needed. Who knew the missing puzzle piece was in front of him for all this time?

He smiled to himself, it was time to make his presence known.

"Well, well, well," he said when he was directly behind the young monk. Beyal jumped slightly, but before he could even turn around to see who it was, the person shoved him forward and he fell to the ground, rolling down the hill before he came to a stop. In a matter of seconds, his attacker was standing next to him. He stared down at Beyal, a smug look on his face and Beyal could finally see who it was. "What do we have here?" his attacker asked mockingly.

"Bookman," Beyal whispered while getting on his hands and knees. "What do you want?"

The old man's smile just grew more crazy and a revengeful glint showed in his eyes "Nothing much. Just revenge on Chase Suno and his little gang," he said in a casual tone as he advanced towards Beyal, who had now gotten to his feet.

Beyal reached into his cloak's pocket and took out Arachnablade's core but Bookman was faster. He gripped Beyal's wrists in his hand and twisted it slightly, earning a small scream from Beyal as he dropped his core into the long grass. He spun Beyal around quickly so that he was behind the boy while still gripping his captive's wrist. He put his free hand in front of Beyal so he couldn't escape and chuckled as he felt Beyal struggling in his grasp. The man's smile grew dark and evil when he said his next words "and your going to help me get it."


	6. Midnight Expedition

Thank you **Myra the Sark**, **Glowblade998**, **ArgentinaV**, **EvelinK** and **DragonInferno** for reviewing.

Last chapter was depressive wasn't it? For those who felt bad for Beyal's friends, well, don't feel too bad. This story has some twists to it.

Beyal: What kind of answer was that?

Me: The kind that doesn't give away spoilers.

**Disclaimer****: I said what I needed to say...**

* * *

Midnight Expedition

Chase groggily got out of his sleeping bag and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He looked around the camp, it was peaceful and full of various snoring like it always was. Why had he woken up in the middle of the night anyway? He had a bad feeling, but why? Everyone was asleep, even Bren.

Chase yawned widely, he needed to stop eating Dax's trail-mix for dinner. That thing is-

Wait! What?

Chase blinked, suddenly forgetting sleep all together. He ran over to Beyal's sleeping bag and, to his horror, found it empty. The bad feeling he was having skyrocketed.

He dashed towards Bren and began to shake him by the shoulders frantically. "Bren! Bren! C'mon B I need to ask you something!" Chase called, not minding to keep his voice down. He wanted everyone awake as of yesterday. Chase managed to wake Jinja and Dax with his yelling but he was still having trouble with Bren.

"Huh?" Bren questioned groggily as his vision came to focus on his best friend "Why'd you wake me up?"

"Yeah baby Suno," Dax said while yawning "Last time I checked night was meant for sleeping."

Chase gave him a venomous look, effectively silencing him. This was _not_ the time to joke around.

"Beyal's not here!" Chase yelled urgently. There were a few moments of sleepy and confused faces before-

"WHAT?" the three teens shouted in unison, each wearing a different kind of panicked expression, all of them wide eyed. Dax wore a half shocked half angry expression, Bren looked confused and a bit stunned and Jinja paled considerably, eyes full of worry.

"Explain!" she bellowed.

Chase flinched at her tone but kept his cool "I woke up and saw his sleeping bag was empty!" he explained hurriedly.

"Oh man this isn't good!" Bren exclaimed.

"Ya' think!?" Dax yelled, throwing his hands in the air "And what were you thinking by dozing off!? Is that head of yours just for decoration or do ya' ever use it, huh Glasses!?"

"Dax's right! If you hadn't fallen asleep-"

"Guys, brake it up!" Chase yelled suddenly, succeeding in stopping yet another argument from flaring up "We need to find Beyal, you can play the blame game after that!" Dax and Jinja glared at him, but didn't say anything.

After a heavy moment of silence, in which both Dax's and Jinja's anger subsided.

"Yeah, you're right." Jinja admitted reluctantly.

"So how do we find 'im?" Dax questioned, a little of his worry unwillingly leaking into his voice.

"Um," Chase said, completely stumped. Just then, an idea downed on him and he snapped his fingers enthusiastically "Bren when did you fall asleep?"

"Huh? Um," it was Bren's turn to think things over. He cupped his chin thoughtfully, trying to remember how long ago he had fallen asleep "Two or three hours ago, I think. Why?" he finally answered.

Chase smiled, "So that means Beyal had to leave after that!" he explained.

"Oh man we'll never catch up to him!" Dax said in alarm. Beyal was fast, faster then any of them. How were they supposed to catch up with him? Everyone else seemed to realize this at the same time because their faces became full of concern once again.

"Well, why do we have to look for him?" Bren suddenly said, earning a bemused look from Chase. Jinja gave him an indignant one, fist clenched at her sides but she was nothing compared to Dax. The dark shinned teen glared venomous daggers at Bren, his fists shaking with rage. Bren cringed, regretting his choice of words and hastily explained himself. "I mean he's vanished like this before! So what are we even worrying about?"

Dax and Jinja both huffed indignantly. All though Jinja stopped glaring at him, Dax's gaze didn't waver. Chase sighed, they didn't have time for this right now! He stepped in between Dax and Bren, who was still sitting in the same spot he had fallen asleep in. Dax gave him an angry glare but Chase stubbornly stud his ground. Finally, after a few seconds of staring, Dax gave in and lowered his gaze.

Chase allowed a small smile to grace his lips before his face turned serious and he turned around to face his best friend. Bren stud up tentatively, still sending wary glances at Dax.

"Beyal knows he's not supposed to wander far from camp and he doesn't go on midnight walks without at least letting someone know anymore. He promised us he wouldn't." Chase said sternly "I have a bad feeling that he's in trouble."

There was a small pause, everyone was at a small loss of what to say.

"Well," Bren finally voiced "What are we standin' around here for? Let's go find him."

Chase gave him a bewildered look "Bren?"

"Yeah?" he answered, clueless as ever.

Jinja sighed exasperatedly "How are we _supposed_ to find him?" she yelled hotheadedly.

Bren blinked "We follow his tracks of course."

It was Jinja's turn to blink "Tracks? What tracks? Beyal never leaves tracks." she said. It was true, no matter how much they tried, no one could ever track down Beyal. Not even Dax. The young monk was simply to light to leave noticeable tracks.

"Well he did now." Bren stated bluntly, pointing to his left. And sure enough, there were light tracks that led out of the camp and into the long grass that surrounded it. The footprints were small and light, but they made clear imprints in the dust. An uneasy feeling settled within the four teens, something was wrong - really, really wrong.

"That really worries me." Chase said quietly.

Jinja and Dax nodded "Yeah, me too." Dax turned to them "C'mon let's hurry."

Everyone nodded, determination clear in their eyes.

And with that they set off, hoping to find their little monkfish before it was too late.


	7. Early Bird Gets the Bookworm

Special thanks to **ArgentinaV**, **Myra the Sark**, **GlowBlade998**, **Cheetha** **Suno**, **JinjaGirl25 **and **DragonInferno** for reviewing.

Sorry for the long wait, but I'm pretty busy so I won't have the time to update as frequently as I used to. There will probably be an update once a week(or maybe every other). Just wanted to let you know even do your probably mad at me about that now. And I'm pretty sure those who read 'Shadow of Caelum' want to kill me right about now. Anyway,enjoy!

* * *

Early Bird Gets the Bookworm

Team Tech Core ran, they didn't dare stop – not even to rest. They couldn't bring themselves to stop, the knowledge of that one of them maybe in danger would let them. Chase led the way, Dax followed closely behind while Jinja ran shoulder-to-shoulder with the dark-skinned boy. Bren trailed behind them.

"Wow, Beyal could win a marathon without braking a sweat..." Bren panted - but no one laughed, Dax even gave him a small glare.

"Glasses, this is _so_ not the time." Dax barked in a harsh tone.

Bren winced and quickened his pace in a attempt to keep up "Well excuse me for trying to brighten the mood..."

"Beyal's missing, we don't know where he is and he's probably in danger!" Jinja snapped "Why would you want to lighten the mood?"

Bren gulped, the undertone in Jinja's voice told him the girl was in her murderous mood, all though she wasn't showing it as much as he had expected. "I, um…" Bren began to stutter.

"Leave him alone you two, we've got more important things to worry about..." Chase ordered, hoping to brake up the argument before it had a chance to start. But unfortunately for him, the statement only heated it up.

"Stop acting like the leader baby Suno!" Dax bellowed.

That made Chase stop dead in his tracks, he turned to face Dax, a scowl on his face. "I act like the leader, because I am the leader!" he exclaimed furiously. Chase and Dax gazed at each other angrily as the others caught up to them.

"C'mon, we shouldn't be doing this right now..." Bren said nervously as he put his hands on his knees and continued to pant. Jinja scowled next to him.

"Guys we don't have time for this!" she bellowed as she stepped in-between the two. "Beyal's in trouble, so quit standing around and let's move!" Jinja's voice echoed throughout the empty plains where it could have easily been mistaken for a lion's roar and would have scared someone out of they're socks - but Dax and Chase didn't even acknowledged the enraged girl.

"Oh yeah!?"

"Yeah!"

"And who died and made you leader!?" They would have gone on like that, glaring at each other with they're hands balled into fists at their sides but it was Jinja who got angry then.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, startling all three of her teammates. Bren eyed her warily "J-Jinja?"

"Stop arguing will you!" the hot-headed girl yelled "Beyal maybe in serious trouble somewhere out there and you're wasting time arguing!?"

There was a deafening silence, in which Jinja took shaky breaths as she tried to compose herself. Chase looked regretful and Dax had bowed his head, miserably staring at the ground. They all stud there for a while, their thoughts pitted against them.

"Sorry Princess," Dax finally said, albeit so quietly it seemed like the words had never left his mouth "I guess I'm just... worried about him..."

Jinja's eyes softened, and so did Chase - but for different reasons. Bren looked at the older boy as though someone had just replaced him with an alien, but his eyes softened eventually as well.

"Dax?" Bren called uncertainty.

Said boy didn't answer at first, he wasn't sure if he should "Humph?"

"I, I'm sorry too guys..."

Dax's head snapped up in under a second, eyes wide. Chase and Jinja had mirrored expressions. "B?"

"I haven't treated you like you were part of the team, at the start. Neither you… nor Beyal. And when he thought he lost his Monsuno sight... well I wasn't as helpful as I wanted to be..." Bren admitted in a small voice, suddenly finding the ground to be more interesting than the face of his friends "I wanted to make it up to Beyal by..."

Bren lost his voice by that point, but they all knew what he meant.

"We understand." Chase whispered.

"Monkfish really has a way of keeping up together." Dax said in a sad tone, his shoulders slacking.

"Yeah, we still argue but... we don't really mean it." Jinja agreed reluctantly.

"How old is he anyway?" Dax suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

Chase looked puzzled by the question, while the other two just had dumbfounded expressions "Um, I don't really know…"

"Yeah, he always acts so much more mature then us…" Jinja said.

Bren smiled, ever the enthusiastic geek "Yup! But he's sometimes so clueless about things!" he chirped happily "You have to explain everything to him!" he joked, but then snapped his fingers in realization "He's more like a little kid then I am!"

Jinja chuckled "You're still a kid Bren." but there was no bark to her words "But you're right, Beyal fits the title of 'little' brother perfectly."

Chase nodded, they were all a family after all. They just viewed each other in different ways, as in a normal family - made only of five teenagers and one occasional adult being Chase's dad if they could catch him. Chase looked at all of them through soft eyes.

"Come on, we've been here long enough. Let's find our missing monk." he didn't say 'wasted enough time' because their time wasn't wasted. The conversation did what Beyal had hoped would happen between his friends one day - and finally, it did.

The numbers of team Tech Core all nodded, bolting of into the distance – following the trail of footsteps that would eventually lead them to Beyal.

* * *

Beyal could only glare at his captor_s_ from where he sat, leaning on a three with his hands tied behind his back and a gag in his mouth. Bookman had carried him to the periphery of the jungle where his accomplices waited. Madea had an irritated expression on her face as she an Bookman talked about something while the other members of Darkspin scattered themselves in the tree tops and silently watched the open fields. Beyal did his best to eavesdrop on the conversation at hand.

"Uh, this is so boring." Madea commented "Why'd you grab the monk out of all of them? He isn't very interesting..."

He could feel Madeas gaze on him, all though he couldn't see her because both she and Bookman where a little ways behind the three he was tied to. "But he could be fun... if he decides to cause trouble as I'm sure he will try to..."

"You know our orders Madea, after we finish here you can pick your prize - not before."

"What do you need the monk for anyway?"

"We all play a part in someone's grand plan Madea, but you surely know that, being a hired gun and all... I have something special planned for Chase Suno and his little gang... something that will finally finish our ultimate mission." the tone in his voice when Bookman uttered the last part of the statement sent chills down Beyal's spine.

And without another word Bookman made his way to his captive. Bookman towered over Beyal, a sadistic smirk playing on his old face. "Well you pathetic little monk it seems we finally found a use for you." he said as he removed the gang.

Beyal licked his dry lips, feeling grateful that the rough cloth was out of his mouth "What are you planning Bookman? What do you want with my tribe?" he asked in a slightly hoarse voice.

Bookman chucked, a noise that was eerily echoed by the silence of the jungle "You're so naive child, why does everything have to be about your little friends?"

The old man crunched down and cupped Beyal's cheek so the boy would be forced to make eyes contact with him. Beyal glared at the man, but Bookman's amusement only seemed to grow. He leaned closer and the next words he whispered into Beyal's ear made the boy freeze.

"But you'd like to see them none the less hump? Kanna and Zen I mean." Beyal's grey eyes went wide, and Bookman seemed satisfied by his reaction. "You know, they really miss you. You should visit them, you know?" he whispered.

Suddenly, shouts in the distance echoed throughout the trees and one of the Darkspin's yell was heard from above "I see them! They're coming!"

Beyal's heart soared, his friends would be here soon and then he could get the all answers out of Bookman. Said psychopath scowled as he stared in the direction of the voices. They were getting louder by the second. The trap was ready to be sprung, even though Bookman wished he had had more time. He turned to Beyal, scowling as he saw the hope shining in the boys eyes. He would crush it in the same way he would crush Chase Suno.

"But if you call for your little group now you won't get the chance to do that anymore, will you?" Bookman said in an emotionless tone, and just as expected all the hope in Beyal's eyes vanished. How could he make such a decision? Should he trust Bookman? Were Kanna and Zen alive? His mind raced and so did his heart and Beyal wasn't sure what to do.

But he knew the answer even before the words escaped his troth. One desperate call was all it took to answer.


	8. Destinies Clash

Special thanks to **ArgentinaV**,** Myra the Sark**, **Golwblade998**, **Cheetha Suno**, **Guest**(sorry, not sure who you are), **JinjaGirl25**, ** Anonymous131 **and **ice wolf** for reviewing.

Hey guys! Sorry for taking so long! I've been updating some other stories so I apologize for my tardiness. I've been having a hard week at school and it's only going to get worse from now, so I'll apologize in advance. You can read some of my other stories for the time being if you'd like to, I've written a Naruto one-shot today, so if anyone's interested I'd like to know what you think about it.

And Cheetha Suno, do you mind waiting for the next chapter for my answer? I will most likely write your request but I'm not sure if it will be before or after I finish this story. Not to mention I've only watched a few Huntik episodes, but I will do my best. I apologize for making you wait.

* * *

Destinies Clash

Not very far from the very spot where their friend was being held captive, team Core-Tech had spread out after reaching the edge of the jungle only a few minutes earlier. Beyal's footprints had stopped abruptly, as if he was standing at one point and vanished in the next - but what was odd were the other, larger footprints that were half camouflager in the dirt. It alerted them of the presence of someone else and from that point on the anxiety had only risen.

"Ugh, man, we need to put a tracer on Beyal..." Bren joked, but there was no humor to his words anymore - they were just empty, used only as reassurance for the one who spoke. Dax gave his a fierce glare.

"Bren..." he didn't need to finish the threat, Bren had become as stiff as a board which was strange because Bren always had one more comment to make. Chase raised a eyebrow at his friend "B?" he asked warily.

Bren said noting and gingerly raised a shaky hand to point at something in the long, dry grass in front of him. Chase, Dax and Jinja slowly made their way towards him "What's the matter Glasses?" Dax asked, frowning before he gazed in the direction of where Beyal was pointing at. His eyes, along with the eyes of his teammates, landed on something they had hoped to find the owner of - Arachnablade's core, without Beyal.

* * *

Beyal had hesitated for just a split second, but he knew what his decision had to be. He called out, only a little too late.

"CHA-!" his yell was cut off as Bookman roughly shoved the gag back into his mouth. "Now, now we can have you warning your friends now can we?" Bookman whispered before snickering.

* * *

Beyal's call, all though short-lived, echoed in the warm night and outside of the jungle it did not go unnoticed. Chase raised his head, looking around uncertainly. His friends cough on soon. "Chase?"

Their leader frowned "Uh, I'm not sure... I thought I heard Beyal." he said tentatively.

Jinja frowned slightly, worry eminent in her blue eyes "Really? I didn't hear anything."

There was chuckle above, followed by the familiar voice of another crazy adversary "Funny, he heard you."

They all looked up, and they dreaded what they saw "Madea!" Yes indeed, it was Madea, and her henchmen were holding the single person they had been searching for all night high up in the tree branches.

"You know Suno your monk friend seems to be becoming my permanent hostage, don't you think?" she said in a amused tone, daring her opponents to make the first move.

"Why you-!" Dax growled "Give Beyal back!"

"Come and get him." Madea said, ready to throw her red core and Team Core-Tech did the same and called forth their Monsuno's.

"Go Quickforce!"

"Charger!"

"Lock!"

"Boost!"

* * *

There was something about battle, something exciting and yet terrifying.

It was a nice feeling to be along side your Monsuno, but it was always twisted by the anxiety of the battle's outcome. Such a battle was in motion now in the savanna north-east of the Kongo jungle where S.T.O.R.M. had ambushed team Core-tech, but our heroes minds weren't on the battle as they watched their cores burst in blue light.

Madea had thrown her core at the same time, but while she was doing so Beyal slipped out of her grasp. Unfortunately, he had lost his balance and began to fall - but Boost caught him just in time.

"Ya' okay Monkfish!?" Dax yelled as Beyal slid down Boost's back.

"I shall be fine." Beyal said hoarsely after removing his gag. Dax crossed his arms over his chest over the younger's antics.

"You are a terrible liar."

Beyal just smiled "But I am a good fighter." he said as he raised Glowblade's core, ready to join the battle but just then, a terrible pain cut trough his mind - causing him to freeze momentarily. His vision blurred, making the shapes of the battle and the Monsunos become murky blue and red blurs.

And then, his eyesight straightened just as quickly. What was that? Beyal wondered, confused.

"Hey look!" Beyal blinked at Dax's sudden shout and looked to where his teammate was pointing. And there, unfortunately, stud more trouble.

"It's an ambush!" Actually, it was a double ambush. The dark-spins were just a distraction, they were supposed to weaken them and then Charlemagne would make herself known and annihilate them. And that was exactly what she had planned.

"Scorpion!" Charlemagne shouted as she threw her core into the battle. The core left a typical golden-yellow trace, but there was something else that caught Beyal's eye - the core had black and red markings.

Oh no, the vision! The vision was coming true! Beyal finally bolted into action and threw his core.

The two cores collided and burst out their bright blue and yellow light, freeing the Monsunos they held.

Glowblade let out a road and trapped the scorpion-like Monsuno into his tight grip. Scorpion growled and with the use of his claws forced Glowblade off of him but the snake did not relent. Dax had left to battle against Charlemagne's men since Beyal was doing pretty good with Charlemagne The others were doing the same - battling against the united forces of Charlemagne and the dark-spins, Bookman had vanished, but Beyal heard him talking to Madea about meeting her back at the base before he left.

So that's why he's currently fighting Charlemagne's new choice in Monsunos. A scorpion, small, undetectable and most of all - poisonous. Glowblade effectively evades any close range attacks aimed at him and grips Scorpion again. Beyal allows a relieved smile to cross his face - maybe the vision was wrong after all.

But just then Beyal is reminded of the crucial fact he had completely overlooked. Scorpions can squirt venom at long distance. And such a laser-like attack was headed straight for Chase!

The boy's back was turned to them, and he didn't see it coming. He was too busy fighting Madea and the dark-spins and all the others were too far to do anything to help him but shout in unison "CHASE!"

Their leader turns around, worried that his teammates were in trouble but what he sees makes him freeze. He's rooted to the spot, he just stares and the massive, red laser attack coming closer and closer!

Chase suddenly snapped out of his daze, the seriousness of the situation finally hitting him. Beyal hitting him!

The bright crimson sparks hit Beyal and there was an explosion that pushed everyone back.

Chase covered his eyes as he was pushed back. When the smoke cleared, their attackers were gone - but that was the least of their concern.

"BEYAL!" Chase shouts as he squints through the smoke and dust.

His friend's was lying a few feet away from his, sprawled out in the dirt. Jinja, Dax and Bren hurried over to them, each wearing mirrored expressions of fear and worry. They called Beyal by his name, trying to wake him up and softly shaking his shoulders as they all made a protective circle around their unconscious teammate.

Beyal's eyes slowly fluttered open, eyes slightly dazed and disoriented. "Where-?" he tried to ask but found himself unable to formulate a question. Someone else, however, did.

"B-Beyal?" the young monk heard a familiar voice say.

"Chase?" he asked uncertainly as the world started to spin.

"Yeah it's us." he heard another voice say - Jinja's. Dax helps him up, murmuring softly to himself.

"Are you okay?" Bren asks but Beyal only yawns "I'm tired." he states simply. It was true, he felt drained, he really didn't want to do anything but sleep now.

"Beyal." Chase's voice isn't stern when he says his friend's name, but he still wants to discuss things with his white-haired comrade. Beyal shakes his head and smiles reassuringly, although it's a very tired smile.

"I'd rather we talk about it in the morning Chase, if I'm not mistaken we have a ship to catch today." Beyal explains and something uncharacteristic glimmers in his grey eyes "Everything will be explained after we have rested."

* * *

To be continued...


	9. The Monks of the Tebab Temple

Special thanks to **Myra the Sark, DragonInferno****, Glowblade998, Kryst, ice wolf, Cheetha Suno, Guest** and **JinjaGirl25** for reviewing.

First off, Cheetha Suno I am sorry but I won't be able to write your story. I honestly thought I would have the time but, unfortunately, I got an F on one of my tests and I will have to spend quite some time on fixing that, not to mention my other studies. So I'm terribly sorry and as a token of my apology: This chapter is dedicated to you! Since I know you wanted to see Kanna and Zen, this chapter will be about how they all met!

And DragonInferno, I'll try to keep my promise, but I'm having some trouble with my Beta. And we both know my grammar is awful so I really need the help. But don't worry, I will keep updating it!

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

The Monks of the Tebab Temple

_He remembers someone leading him up the mountain, that the person's hand was soft as they held his small one. They walked through the misty, snow-covered path to somewhere high up in the mountain. They walked, but it was strange, there was no sense of time or tiredness even do it was a long and steep clime._

_Finally, he and the person leading him stopped, their journey had ended when they found themselves outside a huge building, or rather the steps leading to the building's entrance._

_The person lets go of Beyal's hand and turns. Without a single word he leaves Beyal at the steps of the monastery. As the figure retreated and vanished into the mist, never even glancing back Beyal feels confused by the departure but ever faithful, he waits on those steps for the unknown man that never came back._

* * *

_Many hours have past since the mysterious person had left him, he can't recall how many. Beyal can only recall gazing sullenly at the snow and how it glimmered under the occasional ray of the sun that sometimes shined upon it._

_Suddenly__ the door behind him cracks open, and the sound startles the young child waiting outside of it._

_"Why, hello there." a friendly voice says. Beyal turns around to see who it is and is meet by an old but kind face staring back at him "And who might you be?" the short man asks._

* * *

_Night comes ever so quickly, and the temperature drops a few degrees in the 'empty' temple. __Beyal doesn't like this place, it's too dark, too cold and too empty. The old man, who Beyal now knew by the name of Master Ey said that many people lived here, but so far Beyal had't seen any. After Master Ey had given him something to eat and took him on a quick tour of the temple's library. He had left Beyal to explore the rest of the humongous building. The hallways were wide, lit only by a few torches but sometimes Beyal would come across closed door with light shining under it. Beyal could hear muffled voices behind those doors but was simply to shy to open them and see who was inside._

_So he had wandered outside, or more precisely wandered to the roof - and there he saw something, a young girl sitting on the edge of the roof._

_She had long, wavy snow white hair and her head was tilted back as she gazed up at the starlit sky above. She had bright brown eyes and she seemed to be deep in thought as she twirled a thread of her hair in between her fingers. She looked about seven, just like him. __She didn't seem to notice him at first and just when Beyal was about to turn around and leave this stranger to her musings she called out to him to him "Leaving so soon?"_

_Beyal fidgeted a bit as her intense gaze locked with his._

_"Um, hello." he greeted uncertainty and bowed to the cloak-clad girl. The girl gaze hardened and Beyal was surprised to find a scowl on her face._

_"Don't do that." she said sternly. Her voice was quiet, soft, almost like a whisper and yet the statement was said in such an icy tone Beyal had immediately straightened himself._

_"Huh?" he asked, confused. The girl's scowl vanished when Beyal stopped bowing and she turned her head to look back at the sky, the distant look in her eyes had returned._

_"When you bow it's a sign of respect and you needn't respect me. You are looking for a friend, correct? You will not find one if you only show what you have learned." she said in a mater-of-fact tone. The girl lays down on the roof after that, putting her hands under her head._

_Beyal looked at her questioningly "Then how will I find one?"_

_"Is that a question mean for me or for you?" came the reply. Again, the girl said it in that mater-of-fact voice that didn't hint a single emotion and continued to look at the stars. She looked too distant, like she was totally unaware of anything around her. A few minutes passed without either speaking, and then Beyal made a very important conclusion._

_"Your a contradictory loony."_

_But to his surprise the girl only laughed. "See, I have not shown you my true self yet and you have already formed an opinion of me." she props herself up by the elbows and looks somewhere to her right, away from Beyal._

_"Hey, Zen! Wakie Wakie, the avalanche is wild and shaky!" she says and for the first time her voice has some life to it._

_"Let me sleep Kanna." Beyal hears someone say, and then the loony giggles "Ah, then I shall keep this little kid all to myself?"_

_That provokes a reaction from the other person and Beyal sees their third party peek around edge of the roof "What kid?" the boy asks in a curious voice. He looks a bit younger than the girl and Beyal can clearly see him under the moonlight. He has white hair, all though it has a grayish tinge to it unlike his._

_The boy blinks when he finally notices Beyal and he slowly comes closer. Beyal fidgets under the intent bright-teal green eyes. Suddenly the boy grins and pats Beyal's head, smiling "Well what do you know Kanna! I finally found someone shorter than me!"_

_Then, before Beyal can even comprehend what just happened, Zen lifts him up and over his head. Beyal is stunned at how effortlessly Zen managed to lift him but the surprise quickly wears off "Hey put me down! I don't like heights!"_

_"But were on a mountain!" Zen protests, a confused look crossing his face._

_"So? I like my feet on the ground!"_

_"But my feet are on the ground." Zen says, not at all seeing what made Beyal uneasy._

_"Well mine aren't!"_

_"But mine are!" Zen protested again, then, it dawned on him and he put the shorter boy down "Don't you trust me?"_

_Beyal was complacently taken aback by the question "Trust you? But, I've just met you? I don't even know your name, I don't know who you are."_

_Zen blinks, and Beyal realizes he does this every time he wants to protest against something he said "So? Who said you need to know someone's name to know who they are. A name is like a label, so others can call you by it, understand?"_

_It was Beyal's time to blink "Um, yes?" he says uncertainty._

_Kanna, who had by now risen and was standing behind Zen, chuckled "Looks like we have a deluded one here Zen." her tone was as monotone as ever, but she seemed amused none the less._

_Beyal's brow furrowed "Deluded?"_

_"Yes. You are deluded little boy, you think as others want you to think, you act like an instrument and let others play you so easily. In a word, you're nothing but a part." she explained, but Beyal was even more confused._

_"A part of what?" he queried._

_"A part of what? A whole, what else?" Zen answered instantly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world._

_"A whole?"_

_"Uh huh, but you are not a whole. To be a whole you must have something that is not yours to complete yourself." Kanna explained "But for now, you need to find yourself. First start thinking for yourself."_

_"But... if I don't act like others... they won't except me..." Beyal protested weakly, his voice reduced to a mere whisper._

_Kanna sighed exasperatedly at the proclamation "So many of us are born originals, why do so many die copies(1)?" she wondered out-loud._

_"What?" Beyal asks, now utterly confused. Actually, all three seemed to be confused._

_"You'll understand. Sooner or later, or maybe never - but I think you will." Zen said cheerfully. And right then and there, Beyal made another important conclusion._

_"You two are kooky-crazy moon-gazers." he said blatantly._

_Kanna and Zen exchanged glances, then burst out laughing "Yup, but I think the term your looking for is 'stargazers'."_

* * *

_He likes it here now, since he met Kanna and Zen. So the next day he goes searching for them. He finds them in the library, rearranging books and reading but they aren't alone. The library is full of many people of all ages, shapes and sizes. So he spends this particular day meeting everyone in the Tebab Temple._

_He likes how all the people smile at him. They usually talk about things Beyal can't understand so that's why Beyal made a habit of cutting into almost every conversation the older monks had. They'd scowl at him, but they seemed amused by his curiosity and will to learn._

_Yes, indeed, he likes it here now that it isn't so empty._

* * *

_It's early morning and the sun is slowly starting to rise, bathing the snow in a soft crimson. Beyal was eight then and he was enjoying his life at Tebab Temple. He, Kanna and Zen had become inseparable ever since Beyal started his training and besides those two and Master Ey, there were a few others Beyal had grown fond of._

_There was Trax for example, the monk who was unusually sent out on trips for needed information. He was one of the 'Seekers of Knowledge' of Tebab Temple, these people, Beyal was told, journeyed around the world in search of forgotten and sometimes unknown knowledge. So Trax and his partner, who was also his younger brother, Sky always came back with another exciting story._

_And guess who were the first three monks to bother them?_

_Kanna always loved their stories. And it seemed Beyal's first opinion of her was right, she was an extremely contradictory person. She loved riddles and often spoke in them, which annoyed Zen to no end. Zen was an adventurer, hardly ever patient and quite impulsive but he had more empathy that Kanna, who often chose knowledge over feelings._

_"Out again Beyal?" said the familiar voice "Come on, if Master Ey finds out you've been out here for the entire night..."_

_Beyal turns around to be greeted by the familiar sight of his friend leaning on the roof. He smiles at her._

_"And where were you my dear Kanna? I haven't seen you anywhere in the monastery all night, nor yesterday." Beyal counters playfully._

_She smiled back "Well, one cannot sleep with so many eyes watching." __Ah, one of Kanna's many musings about the stars, she simply adored them but then again, both Beyal and Zen did enjoy the nights spent stargazing with one another._

_"Why do you leave? Where is it that you and Zen go?" Beyal asks suddenly._

_"Beyal, your first question is partly incorrect. You say it as though I go without the intention of returning, my legs may take me on faraway __journeys_ but my companionship stays rooted." she said in that mater-of-fact voice "Friends are like stars Beyal, sometimes you see them, sometimes you don't - but you know there always there."

_Beyal chuckled, yes, Kanna sure did have some strange musings "Then let me revise my question: Where is it that your legs take you my Moonlight Mistress."_

_"Wouldn't you like to know?" she said, clearly amused._

_"Of course."_

_"But my dear, a secret isn't a secret anymore if it is revealed." she countered, a bit of her amusement seeping into her tone. This was another thing she liked doing, she never gave a straight answer._

_Beyal thought for a moment, then a triumphant smile tugged at his lips "But the faith of it is solemnly in the hands of the keeper, and she should only have to keep it from those who do not need to know." And of course, Kanna laughed, just as he always did when he or Zen managed to answer her riddles._

_"Your wit is better than mine, my friend."_

Beyal wakes in cold sweat, looking around frantically, in search of a forgotten memory come to life. But he only finds what greeted him every morning for the past few months - his friends, all sound asleep as per usual. They had made it to the ship just in the nick of time, and much to Beyal's relief they hadn't had the time to interrogate him in the hurry to make it in time, after that they were simply too tired and forgot.

Beyal was grateful for the delay, he needed some time to sort out his feelings and reawakened memories.

The warm rays of the sun begun to filter in through the curtains, Beyal sighed, he _needs_ some time alone.

* * *

(1) - this is a quote I read on someone's profile, but I can't remember who said it. If you know, please tell me.

And I hope everyone understood what Kanna and Zen were talking about. So, what do you think of them?


	10. Over the Ocean of Memory

Special thanks to **Kryst**, **Myra the Sark**, **JinjaGirl25**, **Glowblade998**, **Cheetha Suno** and **DragonInferno** for reviewing.

Another chapter! I think most of you were anticipating this one! There will be a few more OCs in this one and I hope you like them!

Just one more thing, DI you write really awesome stories! Why don't you ask some friend to post them on their account if you don't have yours? I'm sure everyone would like to read them on the archive! :) And Cheetha Suno, if your having trouble with your fanfic page or anything at all, feel free to ask me for help - I promise I'll do my best to help (I had the same problem when I first made my page, I couldn't log in for an entire month!)

* * *

Over the Ocean of Memory

Beyal gazed out, over the railing and at the dark-blue sea. His eyes as distant as Kanna's once were. Their ship would dock today and they'd be making their way to Jeredy Suno's last 'known' location the very same second, as Chase had put it. Beyal felt tired, but he couldn't really blame the boy. Chase and his father were as close as a family should be, that was the only way Beyal could describe it because he never really had a 'father figure' or whatever it was his teammates called it. He didn't really have a person in his life that could be deemed the title of 'father', 'dad' and/or 'daddy'.

But he had some vague idea of what a mother was.

_"ZEN! GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!" nine-year-old Kanna yelled as she chased her impish friend through the temple's corridors._

_"No way! You spend too much time with your nose in these dusty books! Ya' need to get out and stretch those scrawny little legs of yours!" he teased and sped up, it would not do good for him to be in the grasp of the girl's rage. She got annoyed quite often but it was a real surprise if she _ever_ got angry - unfortunately, Zen had a way of making the impossible happen._

_"And you need to get something in that empty head of yours!" she yelled after him as they continued their chase. "Now give me back my book!"_

_Beyal sighed from his seat at the large table in the Temple's dining room, his head in his hand as he tried to concentrate on what he was reading. Kanna had been chasing Zen all morning and their shouts rang throughout the entire Monastery. Normally someone would silence them, but unfortunately, the two(and Beyal) were the fastest in the temple and with Master Ey out for his usual walk, there was no one who could have some authority over the two._

_"Something wrong, Beyal?" he heard a gentle voice say. He was met by the sight of Ella, the young woman who cooked almost every meal at the monastery. She was also the Temple's healer and caretaker to all of the children many have 'dropped off' at the monastery's door._

_"No Miss Ella." he answered in quiet voice. He didn't know why he was so shy, everyone was so outgoing here. Thankfully, he managed to get over the habit, well, mostly - he was still a bit shy around Miss Ella._

_"Why so formal child, I hold no title so you might as well call me Ella." she said gently__ "I'd actually prefer it."_

_"Okay Mi- Ella." he __quickly corrected himself and Valerie chuckled at his efforts._

_"Whatcha reading?" she asked in a curious tone, leaning over his shoulder to get a better look at the book that was neatly resting on the table in front of Beyal. She raised an eyebrow __"Mythology?"_

_Beyal averted him gaze, his cheeks turning a soft pink at being discovered "Uh huh, something seems familiar about it." he explained in a small voice that was almost completely drown out by his friends' shouts "I think I heard it once but can't remember."_

_Ella smiled, gently putting her hand on Beyal's small shoulder as her eyes grew soft "Well, maybe someone told you a fairy-tale once." she explained carefully. Beyal looked at her in total bemusement "Huh?", but she just giggled __"It's a kind of made up story. Like a legend but it contains things that have no probability of ever happening in the real world, at least not for most cases."_

_Beyal nodded, even do he still had no idea where he heard such a thing as a fairy-tale before, but suddenly, it wasn't really important._

_"Would you like me to tell you one?"_

So, in a way, Beyal _knew_ what a mother was - or, at least, he knew what it _felt_ to have one. Valerie was a really kind person, a person who is always willing to listen and understand you. It's a person who guides and loves you unconditionally. Who's always there for you and would never leave you, no matter what - or so you think.

_Beyal was ten, he had spent three years living at the Tebab Temple, but to him - it was his entire life, his earliest memory was of coming here after all. He usually sneaks out to the roof with Zen and Kanna, but he really doesn't need to. There's always someone awake here, be it whichever hour of the day or night - everyone had their own time to sleep. Beyal always liked watching the sunsets and then the stars with his friends, but he also liked the sunrises. So he slept in between the two, which was 'perfect' by everyone's standards._

_Tonight, however, wasn't the case. Tonight was one of those nights when Ella would read to him, Zen and Kanna a fairy tale - since they all shared one room, but his two companions usually fell asleep before she even reached half of the story. But Beyal never fell asleep, not until he heard the ending._

_"Hey, Ella?" he said when the woman paused to yawn._

_"Humph?" she asked tiredly._

_"Where do you know all these fairy-tales from?"_

_Ella was visibly taken aback, but then her eyes seemed to soften and she smiled a sad smile. Her green eyes glimmered with longing and her voice was reduced to a whisper. __"I used to tell them to someone special a long time ago." she said before looking away._

_And that's when Beyal realized, he wasn't special to her. Someone else already held that place in her heart._

Beyal didn't blame her, her wasn't exactly anything special back then. There wasn't anything special about him, unlike with Kanna or Zen. Kanna had so much knowledge, she could remember most everything she ever read. And Zen could always sense what others were feeling, he could feel their desires and regrets. Kanna had the gift of Memory and Zen had the gift of Empathy, but he - Beyal didn't have a special gift. But they didn't mind, for them he was one and the same - special in his own way.

_Beyal couldn't sleep, he often couldn't when a shadow of a doubt emerged to haunt him. Tonight, his mind found it amusing to dwell on just what place he held in the hearts of his friends and mentors. A stupid doubt, but often an unavoidable one._

_"Hey Beyal?" he heard someone whisper. When he raised his head, he was meet by pale bright-teal green eyes staring back at him. Zen lay in bed with his blanket pulled up to the bridge of his nose, only his intent eyes were visible - which meant Beyal couldn't see the expression on his face._

_"Humph?"_

_Zen shifted under the blanket, eyes never leaving his friend "What's wrong, bud?"_

_Beyal blinked, 'leave it to Zen to notice' he thought, '...and care.' a small voice added in his head "I just... I was just wondering..."_

_Zen shifted again "You know you don't need to worry." he said soothingly and finally uncovered his face, revealing a small, friendly smile "I mean, we do care about you. We just don't express it with words, their unnecessary. I don't know how things are done in the 'outside' world but Trax tells me that people are usually too ignorant to recognize anything but words sometimes."_

_And again, Zen spoke like those were the most obvious things in the world - because, indeed, they were. People just had a way of overlooking them. And again, Beyal was awestruck by the simple wisdom of his mischievous friend. __"I..." But Zen apparently wasn't finished, good thing too - Beyal didn't know what to say._

_"And... we don't have to prove ourselves... and... that's why I'm going to tell you a secret... just because... you're you..."_

Secrets, the most precious information, most precious knowledge anyone could posses. And it was also the most precious thing to become the keeper of - because a secret was also the crown of trust, sharing one was sharing one of the deepest parts of yourself with another and entrusting them with your everlasting friendship.

_That day Trax and Sky were supposed to go to a nearby village._

_Beyal looked on as they prepared to go on yet another trip into the world, all though, in this case, it was only to the town on the base of the next mountain - all in all, it only took three and a half hours to get there. And for Sky and Trax, that equaled as a brief stroll._

_Trax was a big, burly man, his skin was the darkest tan(only a few shades darker from Zen's), in the Library and he was bold and had a spiky, white beard. His dark, chocolate brown eyes were always accompanied by a stern expression._

_Sky, who was only three years older than Beyal and his friends, wasn't actually Trax's brother. He was, instead, a street rat that Trax had taken pity of and brought to the Monastery. Trax had wanted to leave him in Ella's capable hands but the kid had grown on him. Sky had incredibly pale skin, paler even than Kanna's. His hair was a bleach blonde, almost the same color as his skin. He was very skinny so his cloths and cloak always hung off of him. Sky, even though a very bleach shade, was the color of his soft eyes. __The combination made him look a bit ghostly and unhealthy. __All in all, he looked fragile, and he didn't speak much and when he did, it was in a small, whispering voice._

_They adjusted two big bags on their backs. They were supposed to fill them with the supplies on which the Temple was running short... and to carry a few things out. Beyal bit his lip, it was now or never!_

_"Hey Sky! Trax!" he called as cheerfully as he could manage, which was pretty convincing given the fact that he was thrilled that they were at the Temple and not traveling right now._

_"Oh, hello Beyal." came Sky's quiet, whisper-like voice. Sky gave the younger boy a small, timid smile. That was Sky, the ever gentle soul and another close friend. Beyal returned the smile. __"Are you going out?"_

_"Yeah, were goin' to get a few supplies." replied Trax, shifting the ginormous backpack that would no doubt be so full of food that it would be ready to burst when they came back. Trax was incredibly strong and was in charge of training the youngsters, the most important quality he thought, however, was speed. He was an expert in training the body, so he usually helped Valerie with healing when he was here. And despite his appearance he had quite the soft heart when it came to his fellow monks._

_Beyal lowered his head, scratching his arm nervously "Can you...? Do you think... I could maybe..." he paused for a second "Come with you...?"_

_There was silence in the entrance hall and just when Trax opened his mouth to reply a spiky head poked itself out of Sky's backpack "Oh, please let him come Master Trax!" Zen pleaded._

_"You just can't keep your mouth shut, can you?" came Kanna's irritable voice as her head emerged from Trax's backpack, Zen just sent her a impish grin. Trust Zen to keep a secret, but he knew who he could tell and Kanna couldn't help but join him in whining their way into letting Beyal come along with them._

_"Well since were already taking two rascals with us," Trax laughed "Why not?"_

_And that's the first time those four pulled Beyal in one of their stunts._

Beyal shook his head. Why in the world had he begun remembering? Maybe because those moments had now ended forever. Maybe because there was nothing to remember when he was still enjoying the present. Maybe because you only start remembering when it becomes the past.

Beya found he couldn't look at the ocean anymore, Sky had once described it as one of the most beautiful things he ever saw, had described how the sky kissed the sea during the down and dusk. Sky always said that, if he had the chance, he would take him to see the sea. It felt almost wrong to gaze over the horizon without his older friend.

Just then, someone bumped into him shoulder. "Uh, sorry." they murmured before hastily moving past, but Beyal still managed to catch the blur of white locks as the girl sped away. He gaped. It couldn't be!

He saw the girl stop by a boy her age, but he couldn't really tell who they were with the many people blocking his view.

On impulse, he made a wild dash for them, occasionally jumping over some unfortunate passenger. The two turned a corner and so did Beyal, but instead of facing the two look-a-likes he found himself facing Dax and Jinja.

"Whoa, Beyal, where's the fire?" Dax breathed in surprise but Beyal paid him no mind and jumped over both him and Jinja. He didn't stop to give an explanation to the speechless pair as he sped towards the two cloaked figures. He rounded another corner but the Kanna and Zen were nowhere to be found.


	11. Under the Baobab's Shade

Special thanks to **JinjaGirl25**, **Kryst**, **Cheetha Suno** and **angelmoonlightlove** for reviewing.

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait! But I told you, I really don't have much time. By the way, is someone interested in writing a Hellboy/Monsuno crossover for Cheeta Suno? As I said, don't really have the extra time(and I haven't watched Hellboy).

Note: If anyones wondering, a 'baobab' is a type of tree that grows on Madagascar.

* * *

Under the Baobab's Shade

An old ship sailed silently in the starlit night, cutting through the sapphire waves of the sea. On board this not so fine vessel, Team Core-Tech(minus Beyal) sat in a circle in their shared room, discussing and planning their search for Chase's father, Jeredy Suno. Or, at least, that's what they planned to discuss - unfortunately, their conversation strayed to the topic that had been nagging at their brains for the past few days pretty fast.

"Have you guys noted that Beyal's been acting... off, lately?" Chase finally voiced.

"Beyal's always acting off..." Bren said distractedly as he continued to examine the map laid out in front of him. His lack of attention and bad choice of words earned him a smack to the back of the head by Jinja "YAUCH! okay, he's special - I get it..." he exclaimed while rubbing the back of his head and glaring at Jinja, before his mind focused on the new topic. "...but come to think of it he has been acting weird."

Dax shrugged "Maybe he's sea sick." he suggested casually.

"No," Chase sighed "I have a feeling this isn't about the sea at all."

"What's the matter Chase?" Bren asked, a frown on his face.

"I was just thinking... about the ambush." he explained in a thoughtful voice "It seems odd that the attack didn't harm Beyal."

"Well the angle was off, but your right. By my calculations Beyal should have suffered more then his external injuries."

"Your saying he should have been injured?" Dax questioned in a menacing voice.

"No! Of course not!" Bren retorted before calming down "Just think about it, a unidentified attack from a Monsuno we never came across before hits Beyal but doesn't injure him to the extent it should have and after the he starts acting like this! It makes me wonder if the attack had some other effect on him."

"He's closed himself off, maybe he's hiding something..." Jinja said worriedly, however, Dax was unconvinced.

"Nah, you're worrin' over nothing. Here, I'll go and find Beyal and then we can all go to bed." Dax waved it off, standing up, he exited the room to find his younger friend. Dax had no trouble finding Monkfish, besides how many white-haired teens in a cloak do you see out there? He was easy to spot. After a few minutes of searching, he found Beyal at the front deck staring out into the starlit sky above the horizon. Their destination was so near.

Beyal looked lost in thought, his gray eyes distant, Dax noticed as he approached. He stud next to Monkfish, following the younger's gaze. The sea was a ink black compared to the sapphire blanked that hung from above, the stars seemed to be dim in light, giving the full moon a ghostly white glow.

"You like watchin' the stars Monkfish?" he said after a while. Beyal jerked slightly, surprised that Dax had suddenly appeared next to him. He realized that the older boy must have been standing there for some time as Dax raised a eyebrow at him.

"Uh, oh, yes they are quite beautiful." Beyal murmured, blinking at his teammate momentarily.

Dax chuckled in amusement "You don't say?"

Beyal nodded, a small smile gracing his lips "Do you like watching the stars Dax?" Beyal asked, his tone returning to it's normal, soothing and calm voice.

"Um..." not really no. "...well, I've never been a particular stargazer..." Dax said uncertainly, he has never really taken the time to look above. Didn't people usually say to 'stop and smell the flowers'? Well, flowers didn't grow everywhere while the sky was unchanging - maybe it made more sense to 'stop and look at the stars'? Dax shook the thought off, he was spending _way _too much time with Monkfish. "Besides, their all outta reach..." he trailed off, voice taking on a sad tone. A knowing expression crossed Beyal's expression, gray eyes clouded with some foreign emotion Dax couldn't identify.

Out of reach, his friends were out of reach now. He could see them, but only in his memory. They were always the shining gems in his life, much like his new friends are now. He couldn't imagine life without Chase, Bren, Jinja and Dax. They were his family now and he knew his old friends would want him to be happy. And yet, he couldn't help but feel that he was abandoning them.

Unfortunately, Beyal must have voiced some of his musings.

"Our saying those old cocks were your friends!?" Dax laughed.

Beyal felt his cheeks heat up and turn red from rage. Dax had really crossed the line! Beyal scowled, turning sharply on his heel and marched away without another word.

"Hey Beyal I didn't mean-!" but Beyal had already stalked off into the night, leaving Dax feeling resentful and alone on the deck. The black-skinned boy mentally kicked himself for being so insolent, he knew better by now! Still, that was nothing close to Beyal's typical reaction. There was definetly something wrong.

With that thought in mind, Dax lurched back to their cabin.

Jinja looked up as he entered "So?" she asked expectantly.

"We should keep a eye on him." and with that, the decision was made between the four.

* * *

Beyal was annoyed.

He hasn't had any visions since they got off the boat more than a week ago and it was frustrating for both him and his friends. He only saw glimpses of some strange and surreal place, where everything seemed shattered and reflecting itself in broken shards. Nothing made sense anymore, past seemed to mix with the future in his visions now - showing him his friend, both from the Temple and from Team Core-Tech. He had a hard time comprehending any of it, and his mind was unfocused as it is.

"Oh, man, it's so hot!" Jinja whined.

"When we go to the mountains it's too cold, when we go to the desert it's too hot, when we were on the ship it was too damp... gosh, Jinja, make up your mind!" Bren snapped irritably. Chase and Dax just groaned, this was _so_ typical, whenever the weather gets too hot, so does the arguments between Bren and Jinja.

"I have to agree with Princess Glasses, ya' could fry on egg on my tongue on this heat." Dax said exasperatedly.

Bren stuck out his tongue in disgust "Yugh, I just lost my appetite."

Jinja snickered "Good, that means the rest of us will have a chance at actually eating something before you gorge down everything." she said in a snide voice.

"Ha ha ha..." Bren laughed mirthlessly, earning both him and Jinja a glare from Chase that silenced both of them. After that things stayed quiet for a while, until -

"Poor Monkfish..." Dax said suddenly.

"Huh? Why's that Dax?" Chase asked, brow raising in surprise and confusion. He glanced back at the boy in question, who was currently trailing behind the group, eyes downcast and he seemed not to have heard them at all.

Dax sighed, wiping his sweaty brow as his jacket hung over his shoulder "Well, he's from the mountains, this heat is probably ten times worse to him." he explained.

"Wow Dax... did you just consider another human being?" Bren asked teasingly.

Dax shot him a dirty look but as if on cue Beyal's breathless voice came to their ears "...can we... take a small break...?" he asked, breath wheezing as he did.

Chase and Jinja turned from their post at the front. Chase took in Beyal's appearance, concerned by how drained the young monk looked "...Yeah, sure Beyal..." he said as his gaze shifted over to Jinja, silently asking the girl if she had any idea about what was happening to their friend, but her face was only a mirror expression of his.

Beyal nodded, grateful that he could finally sit down. He sat on a rock in the shade of a nearby baobab and let out a long sigh. The rest of the team followed the example, seating themselves on the ground in the tree's scarce shade.

Chase closed his eyes, relaxing. It was so hot, but they had to keep going. He knew his father was close, he just had to be! And Chase had a feeling he was just under their noses.

_"Protect them..." _Chase heard the familiar voice whisper as a fleeting image of his mother flashed before his eyes. His eyes snapped open and just then the rock Beyal had collapsed on a moment earlier gave out and Beyal fell backwards into an open hole in the base of the baobab.

"Ahhh!"

"Beyal!" the monk heard his friends shout as he fell into the darkness. He tumbled and twirled down the underground tunnel. His back hit the ground not long after and the dark cave echoed with a loud _thud!_

Beyal groaned, rubbing his aching shoulder. Suddenly, a voice called out of the darkness.

"Whose there? What do you want?" it questioned as a large silhouette stepped forward. It paused for a moment, seeming to recognize the boy on the floor "Hey are you okay?"

The man said, fully stepping into the light cast through the open hole Beyal had just fallen through. Beyal's eyes widened and he let out a small gasp as his eyes landed on Jeredy Suno.

He sat there in stunned silence, unable to find his voice.

"Chase... you have to see this..." Beyal said quietly, knowing his friends could hear him.

He couldn't believe it, the long search was over.

* * *

Please Review!


	12. Reunited

Special thanks to **Myra the Sark**, **JinjaGirl25**, **Cheetha Suno**, **Glowblade998 **and **Kryst **for reviewing.

I'm fairly sure most of you wanna kill me for making you wait so long... yeah, sorry about that.

Cheetha Suno, you're kidding me right? You have the same problem as I did! I'm not a computer geek, so I'm not sure how to explain it very well. See, FanFiction wouldn't let me log in after I made an account and I banged my head against the wall for the next month trying to figure it out. In the end, I went to the 'Forget your password?' thingy at the end of the page. It'll give you a bizarre password, but try to log in with it, I'm pretty sure it'll work! On a side note, I still have trouble logging in sometimes, if it doesn't let you in the first time, try again! If it doesn't let you in after the third try, don't get your hopes up.

* * *

Reunited

They still couldn't believe it, even if a week had passed since then. Team Core-Tech still couldn't believe they had finally found Jeredy Suno. It seemed they had spent so much time just searching for him that they had grown used to that life-style, always being on the move or the lamb. It felt strange to stay in one place, and it felt even stranger to have a sixth person in their midst. Especially since that person was not only a world-famous scientist, but the father of one of they're teammates. And it seemed the entire team viewed him as something similar. And Jeredy had his own views on the children in his charge.

Chase, his beloved son, had grown, he had matured into a true leader, a good man. But he was still his little boy and he acted like it too. They spent a lot of time together, his teammates know he needs to catch up with his father.

Jinja and Bren, who had known Jeredy since early childhood, easily set back into their roles - acting as if he was they're uncle, just like before.

Even Dax seemed to be warming up to the man, seeing him as some sort of role model - even though he usually didn't take the advise, he made sure to listen to it, should it come in handy in the future.

Jeredy himself, liked this makeshift family his son had made. He enjoyed Jinja's cooking as it got better with the aid of an actual cookbook. Bren had an extraordinary talent in hacking and computers in general and Jeredy found himself teaching the teen in three o'clock in the morning as the boy insisted to help him in his lab. And he would never pass up a chat with Dax, the kid was smart and brave, though he needed to watch his mouth, though Jeredy had grown fond of the childish nicknames Dax had for all of them. But, there was something bothering Jeredy, or more precisely, a particular white-haired monk.

Unlike the others, Beyal hadn't jumped at the though of having a father figure. He seemed happy for his friends, of that Jeredy was certain. But ever since his son had shared with him that the boy had grown distant in the past few weeks worried Jeredy. Why? He wasn't sure. In a way, he had started seeing Chase's friends as his own kids. Each special in their own little way.

* * *

A month passed on like this, each of them finding that their bond with another had grown stronger over that time. Jeredy continued his research, and everyone else did their best to help, Chase especially. They didn't go out much, that is until Beyal suggested they send smaller groups out for food after one of Bren's and Dax's eating competitions from which the refrigeration was left completely empty. So, in short, things went pretty smoothly and for the first time in many months team Core-Tech could somewhat relax. They still kept night guard though, since Jeredy didn't have a scanner and no one was crazy enough(yes, not even one-eyed Jack) to go looking for them in the scorching heat of the day.

Today, Chase had decided that the best way to drag his father out of the lab was to challenge him with a chess game. Bren the Brainy, who spent almost as much of his time in the lab as the scientist he was helping(and spent almost as many nights sleeping in it), came to watch as well. But, in the end, he somehow ended up playing chess against Dax.

Jinja had stared at the sight of her teammates in deep concentration and not jumping around like hyperactive monkey for once, until common sense reminded her that no one was cooking lunch. So she had departed to the kitchen, but not before snapping a few pictures for proof that her boys could behave themselves.

All the while, Beyal was reading a book Jeredy had lent him, it was fairly interesting, but Beyal's mind was on other things. He couldn't take his eyes of the playing board as the fingers of his friends moved the wooden pieces to different positions. Dax caught his stare.

"Hey Monkfish, you wanna play?" he asked suddenly, startling Bren out of his thoughts. The question drew Chase's and Jeredy's attention as well.

Beyal sat up from the couch he had been laying on, making his way towards Bren and Dax curiously "What kind of game is it?"

"You meant ya' never played chess before?" Dax asked, eyebrows raising in surprise.

"I'm surprised you_ know_ what chess is Dax, let alone play it!" they heard Jinja shout from the kitchen.

"There's a lot ya' don't know about me!" Dax yelled back.

Bren smirked, adjusting his glasses "Back to the game Love Bird." he said teasingly, snickering as he did.

Dax sent him a mild glare but overall ignored the comment, focusing instead on Beyal. The boy was still standing over his shoulder, eyeing the wooden figures curiously "Okay come here," the black boy said, patting the ground next to it "I'll teach you."

Bren raised an eyebrow and Jinja poked her head through the kitchen arc "Like you wanted to teach him how to get girls?" Jinja said skeptically, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey, he'll need that lesson later on." Dax argued, cheeks tinged pink slightly.

"You need that lesson as well." she shot back, and seeing Dax's cheeks turn scarlet, she knew she won.

After the games had been finished, they all settled around the kitchen table for lunch.

"Were running short on food." Jinja announced as she set Chase's and her own plate on the table, before going to the stove to bring the rest.

Bren gave her a bemused look "That's weird, we bought some four days ago."

"Yeah, and yesterday Dax had a midnight snack." she said while filling another bowl with the vegetable soup she had just made.

Dax's eyes widened and he almost fell backwards, since he usually balanced on the last two legs of the chair when sitting "How do you know it was me!?" he asked a little louder than he intended.

Jinja smirked "Because you have a souse stain on your shirt." she said, pointing at the neck of his orange shirt. She turned away with a victorious glint in her eyes as Dax cheeks turned pink once again "Now, whose turn is it to go into time?"

There was silence in the room as they all racked their brains, trying to remember who's turn was it.

"Um, mine I guess..." Chase murmured, obviously disappointing. He had wanted to spend as much time as he could with his father. He hadn't seen him in so long, and though irrational, he feared Charlemagne or some other loony might drop out of the sky and kidnap him if Jeredy was left alone. Irrational, but still, Chase preferred to stay with his father even though he knew his friends wouldn't let anything happen to him. They were family too, after all.

Beyal, sensing his friends disappointing and easily figuring out his train of thought, cleared his throat "Then it's settled, Jinja, Bren, Dax and I will go to the market while Chase helps his father tomorrow." he announced.

* * *

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	13. Where Loyalties Lie

Special thanks to **Cheetha Suno****, JinjaGirl25, EbonyIvory** and **Kryst** for reviewing.

Guys, there's some good news and some bad news. Good new is, as Cheetha Suno informs me, that the second season of Monsuno premiers on the 21st of April. Bad news is that this story is going to be on hold until the middle of June - sorry, but school's really starting to press on me. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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Where Loyalties Lie

And so, they did as planned. Chase stayed behind to help his father in the lab while the rest of team Core-Tech went to town to run errands. They arrived in the early morning, when most of the shops were still setting up, it wouldn't do them good if someone recognized them and informed S.T.O.R.M of their whereabouts. And as usual, they split up into groups of two, Dax dragging Bren to the small café for breakfast, no doubt to flirt with the cute waitress, _again - _much to Jinja's annoyance. Which was probably why she had chosen to go with Beyal instead.

He was honestly the only one she could talk to, the only one who would listen to her constant whining. But what was a girl to do when she lived with so many _boys_? She was silently thankful that Beyal was part of the group, she could trust him with just about anything. He was, simply put, a good friend. And Jinja had to admit, she had missed their talks and their time spent together.

Which was why she was even more annoyed now.

"Beyal, are you even listening to me?" she said suddenly, stopping dead in her tracks and turning around, he almost ran into her. Yup, he was definitely out of it today.

Beyal blinked, it was obvious he hadn't even heard the girl's question "Um, what is it Jinja?" he asked uncertainty.

Jinja crossed her arms, no, she would _not_ take this, from Beyal especially. "What's with you Beyal?" If he thought he could get out of this, he was sorely mistaken.

"Um, what would be up with me?" he asked, confused.

"Oh, come on Beyal!" she snapped "I know when somethings up with you. I can tell, and the others can too! What's wrong with you?" she asked, determination in her blue eyes. Beyal opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "And don't try anything, you and I both know you're a terrible lair!" she warned.

Beyal hesitated, then sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. He had to tell her, in a way, he _needed_ to tell her "I was just... thinking." he admitted, though there was much more to it than that Beyal found he was reluctant to tell her everything.

Jinja raised an eyebrow, curiosity spiking as she uncrossed her arms "About?"

"It's irrelevant right now..." Beyal's face was blank and his gray eyes adopting a far away look as he spoke.

Jinja's expression softened and she put a gentle hand on his shoulder "Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right?" No, he didn't. And he certainly wasn't planning to now, in the middle of a town - though the streets were mostly deserted. He did not understand himself, but he was worrying his teammates. He needed to find his peace again, which was strange in itself since he had no clear memory of losing it.

"I-" No, don't say it. It didn't matter anymore, he was just mulling over past actions, past consequences, a past _lifetime._ It didn't matter anymore, really, it didn't. It didn't belong to this new life, these new ways and it didn't concern his friends. It was the past, he could change it. Like Zen always used to say _'Enjoy today before it becomes yesterday.' _and he was right. It didn't matter, not now. Not anymore. He resolved to keep it that way. "Thank you... but no, it is not something that would interest you..."

"Oh..." she answered, disappointed. What could he be hiding from her? She knew it was important, it had to be. The questions was, why was he keeping it a secret? "You don't want me to know do you...?" she asked in a disheartened tone.

Beyal paused, choosing his next words carefully "In all honesty Jinja, I wish I didn't..." '_Ah, so it is a sore topic.'_ Which made Jinja press all the more, if she could come clean about her fears and insecurities - so could he!

"So tell me, it would be easier on you..." she said, voice gentle "So?"

Beyal sighed, he was knee-deep in quicksand and sinking fast - there was no way Jinja would let it go now... yet, he was hoping she wouldn't "I was just thinking about... friends..." he said hesitantly.

Jinja frowned - that it? "Oh, so what's wrong about thinking about friends, I mean _we're_ friends, right?" But still, Beyal always gave hints about something more important and Jinja couldn't help but feel she missed one.

Beyal chuckled, his spirits seeming to lighten up a bit "Yeah..."

That was it, she couldn't take this conversation anymore. Deciding to change the topic, Jinja said "So... you want to help me choose some pillows? I'm pretty tired of sleeping with just a rock-hard sleeping bag under my head..."

The answer was obvious, as Jinja always dragged Beyal off with her when she wanted to go shopping. There was a small stall at the end of the main street that sold nice, thin sheets and colorful pillows that Jinja had spotted on of their earlier excursions, so they went there. Jinja went in back with the owner's assistant to look for a bigger size of something she obviously liked. That left Beyal to decide what kind of pillows they would buy for the rest of the group. Which was pretty hard since he was fairly sure Dax would strange him if he got anything in a remotely girly color - the problem, all of the pillows were bright. Dax wouldn't mind a orange-turquoise colored one, would he?

Just then, someone bumped into his shoulder.

"Oh sorry," he said, before he caught the glimpse of the girl who had bumped into him "Kanna?" he asked, brows raised in surprise. No, it couldn't be her. It wasn't possible!

The girl only giggled and quickly ran away from him. This time, Beyal followed.

* * *

Dax was in the café, as per usual, since he always made sure to stop for some sugar here. And, as per usual, Bren had gone to the bathroom, _again_. _'Why does he keep ordering so many chocolate milkshakes is beyond me...'_ Dax thought dryly. But hey, it gave him the opportunity to make quite a few jokes, so he wasn't complaining - far from it. This was his favorite place in town, after all, he had dragged everyone here whenever they went out for groceries. They had the best deserts here.

Man, he loved their pancakes and it was all the sweeter with company.

"Enjoying yourself, Dax?" a voice broke through his thoughts. Dax froze _'Please, please, _please - _don't let it be her!' _But as he raised his head, his suspicions were confirmed.

Dax's blood ran cold. "What do you want Charlemagne?" he barked, tone hard but Dax was careful to keep his voice down.

"I don't like your tone young man." Charlemagne said, voice monotonous as ever. Dax gave her a glare, face contorted into a scowl.

She sighed "I'm giving you one last chance to join us Dax... you know I only want the best for you."

Suddenly, the rage bubbled up inside Dax and he barely suppressed the anger in his words "Whose _us?"_ he said, his voice betraying his murderous thoughts.

Charlemagne blatantly ignored the question, sipping a bit of her drink "Please, what are you planning to gain from these fools... no power will come unless you take it." she said, smirking "I don't understand why you keep following those Sunos... but if it makes you happy, then be a good little lap-dog."

Dax grit his teeth "Whose _us?"_ he repeated, hissing.

"That's a 'no' I take it." she said dismissively.

Dax knew he wouldn't get the information after that, so he went along with Charlemagne's little parade, that didn't mean he had to like it though. The answer was almost automatic, "And it's staying a 'no'." out of his mouth before he even knew it.

She scowled "You're bluffing."

"And you _can't_ take a hint, I told you that the past is the past. We're done." he hissed, standing up "I'm not gonna betray my _friends..._ no, scratch that my _family_, a family that actually cares about me and what _I_ want. So just get lost and get out of my life!" he said, voice raising with every syllable.

Charlemagne's scowl deepened "Fine, child... but don't come crying to me when they betray you, if you hadn't had the nerve to use them, they will use you."

Dax only glared daggers at her "Like you did?" he asked, voice icy "Now, I'll say this one more time before I decide make you Boost's next lunch. **Get.****Out."** he spat the last words, his rage threatening to overpower him.

Charlemagne obliged. Before she stepped out, however, she added over her shoulder, half turning "Just ask yourself this Dax, where would you be without me?" and with that she was gone.

Just in time, since Bren just came out the bathroom door a few seconds later.

"Hey, I'm back... ah, I knew I shouldn't have had that double ice-cream-sundae after that strawberry-chocolate milkshake..." Bren babbled as he took the seat Charlemagne had occupied a moment earlier, totally oblivious to the tension in the air as he rubbed his full stomach. He paused abruptly, seeing as his teammate was still gazing out the glass door at who-knows-what. Bren frowned "Dax, you with me?" he asked uncertainly.

For a moment there was silence, and Bren doubted Dax had even heard him. Just then, Dax spoke, tone hiding a distant note "Yeah, I'm with you." he turned around, a small smile on his face "Always."

* * *

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	14. The Nightmare Begins

Okay, it's been a while since I last updated, sorry about that. But you have to admit that I did warn you, didn't I? Anyway, I have one more test this week and then I'm free to write again! Yay! Thanks to all of you for being patient and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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The Nightmare Begins

A gentle breeze blew across the mountains, ruffling white hair as the owner gazed over the snow-covered plains. She clutched the rough curtains, heedless of the frigid air as it crept in from the open window. She sat on the windowsill, lost in thought.

A light snow was falling, the snowflakes guided by the wind. A beautiful sight, true, but one she didn't care to enjoy. She was humming to herself, some old, monotonous tune she had already forgotten the words of - anything was better than the silence that had engulfed this place these days.

She felt lonelier than she wanted to admit, but then again, no one was asking.

"Helen? Dear, what are you doing?"

The girl – Helen – tuned her violet gaze to the old man in the doorway. Master Ey's eyes softened. "Close the window Helen, and then go to see Ella, she is in need of your assistance."

"Yes, Master Ey," she said obediently. Closing the window, her gaze lingered for a few moments until she headed out of her room.

She knew there was no point to doing it anymore, as did everyone else, but no one ever objected to her doing so. It was an old habit she could break free of. She smiled sadly, she'd just have to move on... and she would, eventually. The memories and false hope - hope that this was all just a nightmare and if she stared long enough she would spot the far of figures of her lost friends in the snow - was still too fresh, even if it had been quite a couple of months since Bookman attacked their temple.

Helen paused when she reached the door of the infirmary, steeling herself for what awaited her at the other side of the door before reaching for the handle.

"You called, Mistress Ella," she said as she entered.

The brunette woman looked up from her patient, a pale boy with blond hair, and smiled at her apprentice. "Ah, hello Helen, yes, as a matter of fact, I did," she said "I need you to go to the base of the mountains and see if you can find me some of these herbs," she explained, handing Helen a piece of paper from her worktable.

Helen nodded, taking the list from her teacher. She was glad to be in this wretched room as little as possible. Before she went out, she spared one last look at the boy in the bed "How is he?" she asked, her voice a soft whisper, but void of any real emotion. She didn't dare hope anymore.

Ella sighed, "Same as always," she replied, shoulder slumping in defeat.

Helen nodded, eyes still on the boy, but then, she turned and left, a scowl making its' way across her face when she was out of sight. Ella sighed again, she looked out the window. Ella was worried, though it seemed to her that she always was, Helen was closing of from the others, isolating herself. Ella couldn't blame her, she wanted to be alone as well, but the girl was taking it particularly hard. She was shy, yes, and a bit introvert, but she was also a sweet kid, too caring for her own good. But, than again, they had all been, and she felt sad that she had lost some of them. She had come to think of the children as her own, her colleagues as close friends. When had it all gone wrong? It still felt a bit too surreal for Ella's liking, but this was one nightmare she couldn't wake up from.

"You know," a voice came from her right, startling her out of her reminiscing "I caught Helen doing the same just a minute ago."

Ella smiled sadly "Old habits die hard, I guess," she said softly. Ey nodded, his face blank and serious.

"Something is happening," he states suddenly, eyes trained on the woman sitting on the bed next to Sky. Her gaze is on the window again, eyes distant and Ey wonders if she realizes she's holding the unconscious boy's hand.

There's a long pause before Ella nods, absently, "I figured that's why you made me send Helen out." She said, eyes moving to met his. Her gaze is level and calm, but she grips the boy's hand a bit tighter "What is the matter?"

Ey eyed her cautiously, before his eyes rested on the boy on the bed. Dull, green eyes softened. "I am not sure…" he paused, a pensive look adopting his features "but whatever it is, I have a bad feeling we'll find out soon."

* * *

Jinja was quite pleased with herself, she hadn't expected to find everything in one go, not to mention how early it was and that there were only a few shops that were open at this hour. Now all she had to do was choose the sheets. She chose some peach-colored ones for herself but couldn't really decide which color to choose for her boys. Should she pick a color for each or should they all have the same? Humph, maybe-

Jinja frowned suddenly, since when were they_ her boys_? Sure, they were close, but that close? She had her parents back home, but... then again, they barely paid attention to her, she was a troublemaker and they never saw eye to eye. Still, it hurt to think they paid more attention to their elder daughters than her. Sometimes she really hated being the youngest.

She shook the thought away, _focus Jinja!_ Okay, what color would Chase like...? Um, let me see... brown? Too dull. Purple? Too dark. Forest Green? Does Chase even like green? Jinja frowned and decided to move on to the next one. Bren... humph, something bright should do the trick... but not to bright... lime green? She smiled at herself and moved to the next. She would get Dax a red colored one, she knew he liked the color. She let her eyes roamed the multi-colored sheets and suddenly had the devilish idea to just buy them the most girly colored sheets imaginable... or maybe baby-blues with clouds and smiling suns? She could just about see their faces, it would be priceless!

Suddenly, someone bumped into her and she dropped the bags she was holding, thankfully, she wasn't carrying anything breakable - that still didn't make her any less indignant.

"Hey!" she yelled and turned to face the person, only to find no one behind her. Momentarily confused, she looked up and down the streets and just caught the familiar sight of a cream-colored cloak before it disappeared around a corner.

"Beyal?" she frowned "Beyal!" she called out again, running after him. This definitely wasn't right! Why was Beyal running from her?

She caught up with him a couple of streets down, when he turned into a dead-end alley. Jinja leaned against the wall, out of breath from the run. She lifted her head to see that they weren't alone. At the end of the alley stood a figure wearing a similar cloak to Beyal's. The hood was raised so she couldn't see the person's face.

"Beyal? What's going on?" she asked in both astonishment and alarm, he turned to her, as if just realizing she was there, but before he could respond Jinja felt something press against her mouth and nose, she inhaled in surprise as the wet cloth made contact with her skin, a moment later she knew no more.


	15. Missing

Thanks to **Kryst**, **cheetha suno and wolfsbane**, **Lakota1172**, **GlowBlade998** and **JinjaGirl25** for reviewing.

Okay, I'm gonna keep this short because I'm in a hurry, so sorry for any grammatical errors in this chapter. I won't be able to update for at least a week.

* * *

Missing

"Oi! Can you walk any slower!?" Dax snapped irritably. Seriously, how come Bren was so slow when _he _was carrying all the groceries?

"Uh, hey, have you ever eaten seven extra-large pancakes in a row and then had seven chocolate and strawberry milkshakes and-?" Dax cut him off before he could list anything else, and Dax knew for a fact that the list was very large.

"Nope, and I don't plan to." Came the brisk reply. Dax's brows twitched in annoyance, _he _was the one doing all the work, and here was Bren - _complaining_. It was more than a little angering. He quickened his pace and turned a corner. His mind was already buzzing from the recent encounter with Charlemagne. He suppressed a frustrated sigh. Things had been going so well. He didn't want her coming in and ruining everything. No, he couldn't let her - _wouldn't_. He was happy here, with his friends. And that's what they were _friends_. Because somewhere along the way between _I don't trust you _and _You're still a jerk _they had become just that, and, Dax admitted, however hesitantly, that they were becoming more._  
_

His strides gradually slowed as he lost himself in his own musings, continuing to walk but not paying attention to where he was going.

Because even though baby Suno liked playing leader, he still asked him for advice; and Jinja liked being a bossy, but still would gladly follow anyone else's plan before her own; and Bren was the clueless brainiac; and Beyal was the wise monk who still didn't know much about the world they had all lived in up until now. And Dax couldn't imagine them any other way, he didn't want to. Because Chase trusted him with his doubts, Jinja was willing to listen, Bren was there to cheer him up, whether he succeed or not, and Beyal chose to see his virtues rather than his faults.

Because, with all _his _quirks and flaws, they accepted him, and Dax didn't think he could bear it if that ever change.

"Hey Dax, I think were in a dead-end..." Bren's voice snapped his back to reality, and he realized that the boy was right. He mentally scolded himself, _idiot, keep it up and they'll figure out _something's _off. _Than again, what _wasn't _off with team Tech-Core? He realized that he was standing in the middle of the alley just then, _idiot_. His eyes roamed the alley to find something to excuse his abrupt pause, but when he caught sight of a familiar figure sprawled out on the ground he felt his breath hitch "Dax?" Bren "Yo, Dax, you okay…?" Bren was still there and he still hadn't seen what Dax had, but Dax didn't stop to explain. He just bolted to Jinja's side and dropped to his knees.

* * *

It had been an hour, an _hour_, since Dax had come dashing through the hole-entrance with an unconscious Jinja in his arms. And the time that passed between now and then didn't comfort Chase in the slightest.

"Why isn't she awake yet?" he asked his father, probably for the hundred time since she was lied on the worn-out couch. Jeredy sighed, exasperated but understanding. He knew how much these kids ment to one another, and, with everything they had all been through, he had to remind himself that they were just that. Bren and Jinja couldn't go back home, even if they wanted to, which Jeredy was fairly certain they didn't, with S.T.O.R.M. breathing down their necks. Dax and Beyal were a completely different story, though, they both never spoke of their pasts, and Jeredy assumed that, wherever they had come from, they didn't want to come back. And so, that was how Dr. Jeredy Suno, world-famous scientist ended up with for stray teens beside his own son.

And he cared for them, he really did, but he was a scientist, not a physician.

"Chase, I know you're worried," he began, patiently "but I don't know for certain, she seemed to have just pass out from all I can tell." he put a comforting hand on his son's shoulder "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be awake soon, we just have to wait."

Chase nodded, the words didn't little to ease him, but his father's support did calm him. They lapsed into silence again, Bren arrived a few minutes later, out of breath. "I co-couldn't find 'im" he panted.

All eyes turned to the newcomer, apprehension clearly written in every one of them. Dax straightened in his chair. "What do you mean you 'couldn't find him'? Where is he then?" Dax's voice was uncharacteristically soft, probably from all the distress, but ire still coated his tone.

Bren was unfazed, still panting and slightly hunched over, he answered "Ran through the entire city, no one's seen him but some lady selling sheets and pillow-cases, and that was way back, she didn't know where either he or Jinja went afterwards." he explained, straightening up a bit "What do you think happened?"

Dax looked like he was going to snap at him again, but the frustration suddenly drained out of his face. "I don't know,"

In that moment, Dax looked more vulnerable that anyone one of them had ever seen him. But than the moment was gone and the boy's eyes hardened again. "But whoever did this is going to pay."

Chase nodded in grim determination, Bren fidgeted slightly and Mr. Suno frowned with disagreement "Well, we won't know until Jinja wakes up. Hopefully, she'll be able to tell us what we want to know."

With that, the room lapsed into silence again, it may have been seconds or minutes or even hours, but then Dax stud up abruptly and headed for the exit. "I'm going to search for Beyal," _and who ever did this_, was left unsaid, but Chase and Bren had learned to read between the lines. Dax wanted to be alone, he didn't trust anyone else with the task of finding Beyal. Chase scowled, looking offended, while Bren wore a hurt expression, still, there were no objections as Dax went out to search, Bren went to the computer room to hack all the cameras in town to see if they saw something and Chase and his father sat down next to the still sleeping Jinja.

* * *

The darkness was soothing, conciousness came slowly and she still felt as though she was stuck between sleep and awareness when she opened her eyes to find blurry images hovering above her. She groaned at the bright light, closing her eyes again. She heard shuffling near her and someone speaking, but they sounded so far away. Where were they coming from? Where was she, anyway?

She groaned again, a fierce headache taking over her senses. Now that she was a little more awake she tried opening her eyes again, her vision blurred at first, but adjusted soon enough and she could just about make out the faces of her friends. She smiled slightly, and then frowned in annoyance, they were always there, even before her first cup of coffee.

"Jin, you okay? Can you hear me?" a familiar voice asked. Jinja had the strong urge to retort. No, Bren, my head is throbbing and my ears will start to bleed if you don't shut up! Unfortunately, all that came out was a pitiful moan. She felt as if Charger had stomped all over her. The voices were getting louder now, clearer, but she wished they'd stayed quiet. They were making her headache worse. She could hear Bren and Mr. Suno mumbling in the background, and could scarcely hear Chase's and Dax's voices as well. Great, just what she needed. The three of them were going to drive her mad, their concern was well intended, but it still didn't make it any less annoying. For once, why could Beyal be there in his _quiet_ concern

And that's when it hit her.

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Please review!


	16. Searching for Answers

Thanks to **JinxGirl25, cheetah suno and wolfsbane, Chidsengan, JimStar, GlowBlade998, EbonyIvory, Kryst **and **Malica15** for reviewing!

Sorry for not updating sooner, but here it is! No cliff-hangers or anything. Just to clear something up, nobody hit Jinja in the last chapter, I guess I should have written 'the realization hit her , sorry, my bad.

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Searching for Answers

He wasn't thinking straight, because if he was he might've found something by now but he hadn't. He had ran this town twice over, even gone to the desert, but there was _nothing!_ Absolutely nothing, not a single clue, to point him to where his friend had disappeared to. He had been torn between staying with Jinja and sprinting out the door to search for Beyal. In the end, he chose the latter, partly, or mostly, because he felt utterly useless just standing there as Jinja remained blissfully unaware. And so, he did the only thing he could and _ran,_ he wanted to run away from everything, leave his problems behind, but he couldn't leave these people, his friends, behind. They needed him, and, even though he would never admit it outlaud, he needed them. So, he ran, back to the hell-hole he had barely managed to escape from.

* * *

"BEYAL!" that was the only warning they got before it happened. As soon as Chase heard Jinja shriek she began trashing, tangling herself in her blankets as she tried to rid herself of them. Her eyes snapped open when he placed his hand on her shoulder, unfocused blue orbs roaming the room with wild panic. Chase stood frozen, when her gaze finally traveled up his arm and to his face. Blue met green and instantly, the panic in Jinja's eyes receded, but didn't disappear completely. Moments later, Bren ran in, having heard the screech from the computer room, Mr Suno hot on his heels. They both paused when they saw Jinja was awake. They stood there like statues, waiting for something, _anything,_ to happen, and hoping they would be ready for it.

Jinja's eyes focused and became less blurry as she finally seemed to take in her surroundings "Chase?" her voice was tentative, confused "Chase? Is everyone here?" she asked.

Chase blinked, once, twice, before answering "Uh, no, Jin, it's just you, me, Bren and my dad," Jinja's eyes widened, panic shining through he bright eyes again "Where are Beyal and Dax?" she asked in the same tentative tone as before, and Chase couldn't help but think that it really didn't suit her.

Bren gulped, looking uneasy, thankfully, he was saved from answering by Mr Suno. "Dax went out to try to find your friend, but I'm not sure where either of them are." Jeredy explained. More than ever, Chase was grateful that his father knew how to keep a cool head in situations like these. It didn't seemed to help that much though, a shadow passed across Jinja's face as she sat up. Chase gave her a long look. "You know what happened to Beyal, don't you?"

Jinja's gaze flickered to him briefly, before she returned to staring at her sheets. "I - I saw him running somewhere, in the streets, and I thought he was in trouble, so I followed him..." she paused, licking her dry lips, Mr Suno handed her a glass from the living room table. She took it before continuing "I caught up with him a couple of streets later, when he turned a dead end..." she paused again, fiddling with the empty glass in her hands "Only... he wasn't alone, there was... someone else there... but I didn't see who they were," she looked up at them when she finished.

The three shared a meaningful look, Jedery was the one to speak "You should get some sleep dear," he told her in a gentle voice. Jinja wasn't willing to listen "What about Dax and Beyal?" she demanded. Jeredy smiled slightly, a tight-knit group indeed. "We'll call Dax and see if he's found anything and tell him to get back here so we can figure out what we should do next."

They couldn't argue with that, and Jinja seemed more at ease with the idea of bringing Dax back. She was probably worried about him disappearing as well. Which might happen, but Jeredy was confidant that the dark-skinned boy wouldn't do anything too stupid... at least he hoped so. Chase and Bren left for the computer room after that, leaving Jeredy to check the girl over for any injuries or side-affects from the sleeping gas. Thankfully, there were none, and he left the room after telling her to rest. After a couple of minutes, Jinja dozed off.

* * *

Chase and Bren made their way to the computer room in silence. There were many questions circling in both their heads, and they intended to find the answers. The door swung open and they sat on the soil floor, Bren took out his touch pad and began searching for any security footage from the town. It was a small town, so Bren knew he shouldn't have been this disappointed when only a few options turned up. There was the corner shop, the pharmacy, the café and two restaurants, but nothing more. He wanted to find Beyal, he had been annoyed at first, why did that boy love to play the disappearing act anyway? It spooked Bren at the very beginning, when he, Chase and Jinja just met him. _Now you_ _see me, now you don't,_ he guessed. He didn't understand at first, mostly because he wanted him to just go away. He didn't like the idea of someone else with them, because Chase and Jinja were his only friends and the thought that they might like someone more than him was unacceptable. That's why he had sometimes, okay often, wished that Beyal wouldn't reappear. He didn't now, not anymore, because now both Dax and Beyal were his friends, they excepted him with all his glitches and he was grateful.

The pharmacy, he started playing today's footage, watching for anything out of the ordinary. He knew Chase was doing the same.

Bren still remembered trying to find everything that was wrong with him, like correcting errors in a computer system, because, really, that was one of the few things he was good at. But he realized that he wasn't perfect, shouldn't try to be. Chase and Jin liked him just the way he was, and Beyal and Dax did too. Bren knew he had been selfish, keeping his two best friends to himself, but he thought Beyal would be like everyone else - always judging him by his faults. Boy, how wrong he had been. Beyal was nothing like anybody else, Jin and Chase were special in their everyday-normal life that somehow ended up chasing bad guys and fighting Monsunos, Beyal threw normal out the window. For all his wise nonsense that somehow ended up teaching them some important lesson he still knew as much about the world as a child, he might want to do the right thing with his misguided attempts at being relatively normal, but Bren didn't want him to anymore. He was fine with Beyal as he was, he had his glitches and he had his normal.

Nothing at the pharmacy, moving on, first restaurant. His eyes scanned the screen, he had increased the speed of the footage to not waste too much time, but it was still slow enough for him to see every detail that was filmed. Nothing there, moving on. The shop turned out to be a dead end too, so that only left the other restaurant.

"Bren? I think you skipped the café." Chase said, somewhere to his right. Bren hummed in acknowledgement "Dax and I were there earlier, before we found Jinja." he explained "I'm pretty sure we would have seen anything suspicious."

Chase's brow furrowed. "I know, but just... let's check it, just in case." Bren sighed in exasperation, but Chase was right, so he did as he was told. The leader had spoken.

* * *

When Dax came down through the hole that evening, he looked utterly defeated. Exhaustion and confusion was evident on his face, but it didn't even begin to describe the turmoil his thoughts were in. He knew _she_ did this. But, why? Why Beyal? The answer was obvious, of course, and he wanted to smack himself for his stupidity. Because she wanted him back in her clutches, Beyal was just the bait, collateral damage. At this point, Dax knew how he felt towards the blond woman, he _hated_ her. Charlemagne had gone _too far!_ But there was no one there to stop her, no one knew besides him. So, what was he supposed to do? Tell them? No, not a chance, never. They didn't need to know, not now or ever, except... maybe, they did.

Dax wasn't sure, and he didn't want to face their accusing stares, harsh words and questions he didn't want to answer. No, what he wanted right now was to just plop down on the couch, unfortunately for him, it was already occupied.

Jinja sat there, among various pillows, their color long faded, staring at the old tv across from her. Dax fidgeted slightly, he wanted to be alone for a while, think things over again, but he knew, from the moment she spotted him, that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Any luck?" she asked, hope still lacing her tone even though she seemed to know the answer already. Dax shook his head and Jinja's face fell. There was silence for a few seconds, and Dax felt more than a little uncomfortable, just standing there, useless. No, no he wasn't, he barricaded himself. "Whacha doin'?" he asked after a while.

"Watching a movie," she said, not looking at him "the others won't let me help search because I need to 'rest'." Dax managed a small smile at the sarcasm. Yup, that was Jinja alright. Still, it felt... nice, to talk, just talk about nothing in particular and pretend everything was fine and dandy. "What's it about?" this time she did look at him "Sit and find out." she answered, but it was also a question. She was asking for company, for a friend to fill the absence of another, for mutual comfort and companionship.

Dax accepted, because he had wanted to ask for the same. They sat down on the couch together, side by side to watch some old movie that was already half-way through and just try to forget the world for a while.

* * *

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	17. Traitor

Thanks to **cheetha suno and wolfsbane**, **JimStar**, **ArgentinaV**, **Kryst,** **JinxGirl25** and **GlowBlade99** for reviewing!

I'm going to apologize in advance for the cliffhanger at the end, and beware, this is a really emotional chapter.

* * *

Traitor

Despite everything, it was a calm evening, which, Dax though, was more than a little ironic. His thoughts had been in turmoil all day, every thought darker and more hopeless than the last. He felt guilty, he really did. Beyal was out there, alone and probably scared out of his mind, but there were also other things Dax felt guilty about. For one, how could he have been so stupid? It was obvious Charlemagne wanted him back on her side, and when he wouldn't come willingly, she had decided to force him by taking Beyal. For another, he had no idea where to find the blasted woman, which was strange in itself, since Charlemagne liked to be quick and brutal. The waiting and anxiety were killing him though, but he guessed that was the point. And lastly, the lies had finally caught up with him.

So, yes, Dax felt guilty about a lot of things. He had managed to suppress it for a while, only the occasional pang would hit when one of his friends gave him that look of trust and honesty he could never fully return, but now, the dam which held back that guilt, doubt, fear of his secrets being discovered was beginning to leak. What if they really found out? _No, no, they wouldn't_, Dax thought with grim determination, _I won't let them. _But somehow, all that melted away, worries and anxiety alike, while sitting here, next to Jinja.

He remembered when she told him that secrets wouldn't change her view of him, that he could tell her, trust her to keep them. He knew he couldn't, after all, she thought it was nothing serious, she even believed him about the hat thing. And, for some reason, that stung. It stung that she trusted him so much, that she believed he was being honest. It shouldn't, it had been just a little white lie_. _But she believed him, and, Dax knew, so did the others. Again, it stung, because if they only _knew _who he had _really_ been talking on that blasted phone of his they wouldn't. He had lied, many times over, he had lied so much that it glided off his tongue easier than any truth.

Jinja had fallen asleep next to him, head resting on his shoulder, the TV casting the only light in the room. Dax had long stopped paying attention to the changing images on the screen, his mind lost in the whirlwind of self-blame and past mistakes. A voice in his head shouted _Tell them!_, but another kept holding him back _What do you think they'll say to you when you do? They sure as hell aren't going to pat you on the back_. In the end, the later always won. He would never admit to being scared, because he wasn't - _no,_ he was _terrified_ at the prospect of anyone, especially those he had grown close to, namely team Core-Tech and Dr. Suno, finding out. That fear gnawed at him now more than ever before. When had he come to care so much, he didn't know, but what he did know was that he couldn't afford to lose his new, make-shift family.

It was in that moment that Bren decided to run in, their eyes met, and they both froze, before a hateful snarl crossed Bren's face.

* * *

Chase couldn't stop staring at the screen, his thoughts wiped clear by the shock of what he was seeing. After the few moments in which he had managed to get over his initial shock, his mind had started screaming, bellowing, _begging _- _No, no, no, please NO! _It couldn't be true, just _couldn't!_ But there it was, on _film_, playing mockingly on the screen in front of him. But his thoughts were still stuck in that same denial, the denial that still viewed Dax as his friend - family, _brother_. It couldn't be true, but he knew it was - because the scene playing out before him was no illusion or trick, it was _real. _Too real. Chase vehemently wished it wasn't, that it was a dream, a _nightmare. _So why wouldn't anyone just _wake him up_ already? But no, it wasn't a dream, it wasn't even a nightmare, it was something that made it all the more terrifying - reality.

Chase's mind was still relatively blank as he watched the scene unfold again and again, Bren having isolated and set on replay those particular few minutes of conversation. Dully, Chase wondered what his best friend, his other brother, was thinking - but still, his mind was held too tightly in the grip of shock that was all to quickly turning to agonizing and utter betrayal to actually consider Bren's reaction. After what could have been either an eternity or a few seconds, Bren stud up and ran out the door.

* * *

Bren's eyes stung, tear picking at the corners of his eyes, and it wasn't from staring at the screen for the last four and a half hours - _no,_ it was from something much, much, _worse. _He had been unable to look away, to blink, to close his eyes and pretend that what he was seeing wasn't _true_. He couldn't believe it, so he played it again, hoping against hope that he had just been hallucinating, that the stress had simply gotten to him. He wasn't, and he was painfully aware that it all made _sense_ now. That it was _logical. _Worst of all, he was the smart one, the _brainiac,_ he should have _figured it out. _True, he was computer-smart, not people-smart - still, how could he not have seen this when it was staring him _right in the face!_

The questions of _when? where? why now? why weren't we good enough for you?_ and simply _why? _circling his thoughts, but he didn't acknowledge it - the only thing that was going through his head now was:

_Traitor, Traitor, TRAITOR!_

He launched to his feet and dashed out through the door, quickening his pace when he heard Chase behind him, because when he found the traitor, _he_ wanted first stab at him.

* * *

Dax knew that, for as long as he lived, he would never forget that face. The expression Bren was wearing sent shivers down Dax's spine. Bren's face was contorted with rage, eyes bright and burning with anger and betrayal.

_"Traitor..."_ he hissed, voice barely above a whisper, as if he couldn't contain his rage. Dax tensed, staring wide-eyed at Bren - geeky, socially awkward Bren, now looking at him with murder in his eyes. "How _could_ you?" he asked, voice thick with all the emotions Dax didn't want to hear. Anger. Betrayal. Hurt. Desperation. Before he could even open his mouth, Bren shouted "HOW COULD YOU?!" his voice cracked, and he launched himself at the couch, where Dax was sitting.

A few things happened simultaneously after that. The shout startled Jinja and she jerked awake. Chase ran into the room and, among the chaos, tackled Bren. Dax jumped over the armrest and backed away from the two boys on the floor. Three seconds later, Dr. Suno dashed in.

"Let me GO!" Bren screamed, tears in his brown eyes. He trashed under Chase's firm grip as the other boy held him down. Chase himself, looked torn and tormented as he held his best friend down. "Bren! Calm down! Let him at least explain himself!"

Bren's efforts grew more vigorous at the words "Explain?" he yelled incredulously "There's nothing to_ explain!_ He betrayed us for Charlemagne!"

The room froze at that moment. Bren stopped trashing, heaving and panting from the effort to get free, Chase was still holding him down, his face blank and steel in his green eyes, hiding away the agony he was in. Dr. Suno just stud there, frozen in place as he surveyed the scene in front of him.

"What?" it was Jinja, still sitting on the couch, her voice was soft, vulnerable, confused "No, no, no, no, that can't be right." she mumbled, looking at Dax desperately "Right Dax?" it was a question, it hurt that it was, because that meant Jinja thought he might be working with Charlemagne. Which he wasn't, not anymore. But it stung to think that she had lost faith in him.

His mind drew a blank then, unable to comprehend what was happening around him, what couldn't be happening - just _couldn't._

"Dax," this it was Chase's voice, but it was steely, almost _detached_. Never before had Dax heard Chase sound like that. "Explain yourself." a bit of emotion bled out in those two words, and Dax cringed inwardly - hope. Chase was hoping he could explain, that this all had some reason behind it and that maybe, _maybe_, everything would work itself out if he only gave Dax the chance to explain. Dax couldn't. How could he? His tongue felt like lead in his mouth, his thoughts were fuzzy and he felt sick. _No_, how could this have happened? He could only shake his head in denial and disbelief as the world came crashing down around him.

"Why?" it wasn't Bren, Bren had stayed quiet since his outburst, tears still streaming down his face - no, it was Jinja "_Why?_" the question sounded even more desperate than the first time. Jinja's eyes were full of unshed tears, her arms trembled and her hands were balled into fists so tightly that her knuckles were white "Why, Dax? _Why?_" she kept repeating the question, but Dax still couldn't find the words to answer. "Weren't we good enough?" she sounded hopeless "_Weren't we friends!?_"

That had been the last straw, and Dax felt his heart throb and his head lurch.

"I'll bring him back," he croaked, voice choked with tears of his own, barely managing to hold them back.

Jinja let out a bitter laugh, though it sounded more hysterical than anything else. "You're the reason he's gone!"

That hurt, just like everything else that was said that night, but this was torture. He couldn't take it anymore.

"Get out," Dax hadn't even realized that he had closed his eyes in his effort to block everything out. "GET OUT!" Chase shouted, voice braking. His green eyes were full of agony. "Get out traitor!"

That was the last thing Dax heard as he ran out, leaving the room and the people he cared about the most behind.

Please review!


	18. Familiar Faces

Thanks to **ArgentinaV**, **JimStar**, **JinxGirl25**, **c****heetha suno and wolfsbane **and **Kryst** for reviewing!

I don't know what's wrong with me, this chapter took me ages to write and it was tough to put it on paper(um, screen). I'm not proud of how it came out, but I hope it's passable.

* * *

Familiar Faces

Time passed slowly, dragging itself through a dull haze. Two days had passed since they banished the traitor, and none of them ventured out of their make-shift home in that time. Jeredy was the only one who went about his business as usual, if a bit pensive when mulling over the events of the past few days and reviewing them in his mind. The same could not be said for the remaining members of team Core-Tech.

The three of them spent their time doing research, either for Dr. Suno or to find their missing monk, but Chase couldn't help but feel as though they were back to square one, in more ways than one. The three musketeers, that's what Bren had called them once, when three became four, and then five. Chase could laugh at the irony, but that wouldn't fix anything, he knew that. He just wanted some outlet, some way to ease the tension that seemed to follow them through the days. It didn't feel like such a short time since Dax left, no, it felt like a lifetime ago, too distant to remember clearly. But enough time hadn't passed for the dull ache to stop stabbing at his chest.

Chase sighed, running his fingers through his uncombed hair. How could he have been so naïve? Dax obviously knew who took Beyal, yet Chase let him go. The traitor's trail was lost in the night. He should have gone after him, chased him, made him explain himself, explain _everything_. But he hadn't, he let his aching heart make the choice and banished the traitor, banishing the only clue they could have had alongside Dax.

But there were also other questions that weight heavily in his mind, questions of where Dax loyalty had lied in the months he spent with them. Had it really been just a couple of months since they met? It felt much, much longer, but it was clear in his memory as though it happened yesterday. Had it all been a trick from the start? Had Dax always been loyal to Charlemagne or had he decided to swap sides at some point?

Chase bit his lip and, after a few seconds of fidgeting, decided to ask his father for advice. Neither Bren nor Jinja made any move to stop him, both engrossed in their own thoughts, which, Chase suspected, were on similar topics.

* * *

Conciousness returned slowly, his senses just beginning to take in his surroundings. He groaned, body aching as he tried to sit up. His blurry vision began to adjust to the dim light and he realized he was lying on a cold, hard floor, obscured and shapeless faces circling above. One of them was smiling maliciously.

"Welcome back," it said, voice snide "monk-boy."

Beyal blinked, barely registering what was happening around him. Finally, his vision adjusted completely, and he was met by the sneering face of Bookman staring down at him. Beyal's eyes widened, and he tried to back away from the man, but found he couldn't. The ropes around his arms and legs prevented him from standing up and limited his moving. Bookman smirked. "And what, pray tell, are you trying to do?" he crouched down, closer to Beyal "Run?" his eyes held a taunting glint "If you haven't realized, we're on a boat, there's nowhere to run."

Beyal felt dread settle in the pit of his stomach. He was trapped? His thoughts became frantic. What was he supposed to do now? Where was he, anyway? What was Bookman doing here? And most importantly - where were his friends? He swallowed, taking deep, calming breaths to suppress his panic, then, in the most controlled voice he could muster, he asked "Where are my friends? What have you done with them?"

Bookman's smirk grew into an evil grin as he gazed down at his prisoner, but, surprisingly, he wasn't the one to answer the question.

"Why, we're right here Beyal," a face came into sight, and Beyal's breath hitched at the familiarity of it, "Did you miss us?" the boy asked, a ghost of a smile playing across his lips, but his eyes were void of the warmth Beyal had grown so accustomed to.

"Zen?" his voice was hoarse, shaking as he gazed at the face of the friend he thought he would never see again "Is it really you?" he couldn't believe it, how was it even possible? But the euphoria he was experiencing at seeing his friend, alive, turned to doubt as he laid eyes on the expression on Zen's face.

The cold mask on Zen's face seemed to falter for a second, but then the moment was gone and it was back to its' previous iciness "No, I'm a ghost come back to haunt you," he said, the jovial, joking tone clashing with the grim exterior "Nice to see you haven't forgotten me."

Beyal couldn't comprehend what was happening, but all his joy at seeing his friend vanished at the last comment "W-What?" _what are you talking about? Why in the world would I ever want to forget you? You're my friend, we've known each other since we were children..._

Zen, seeing his incredulous expression, snorted. "Oh, don't give me that look," he said harshly "you _replaced _us!" that accusation hurt, just like the conviction in the other boy's tone.

"U-us?" Beyal barely managed to force the word pass his lips, and, truth be told, Beyal was afraid of the answer.

"Well now, and here I was thinking you'd at least notice me..." a new, third voice stated "though you seem to become more and more unobservant every time we meet," he knew this voice as well, it was so painfully _familiar_ that he didn't want to believe that it was even there. Suddenly, the looming face of Kanna entered his field of vision, a deceptively soft smile on her lips "Hello, Beyal."

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	19. On the Road to Disaster

Thanks to **cheetha suno and wolvesbane**, **The Editor**, **JinxGirl25**, **Chidsengan**, **Malica15 **and **Kryst** for reviewing!

**I have a hundred reviews? I can't believe it, thank you so much!**

* * *

On the Road to Disaster

The hall rang with the echo of Chase's footfalls. He walked slowly, almost hesitantly, towards the door leading to the make-shift lab, where his father was sure to be. He took a deep, calming breath to steel himself before he entered. The room was in its' usual state, wires and small gadgets thrown haphazardly on the soil floor and the buzz of electronics and computers vibrating off of the walls. It was comforting, reminding Chase of when he was a boy and would often sneak into his father's workshop to watch him work.

Jeredy Suno sat in a rotating chair opposite the door, absorbed in the information on the screen in front of him. Chase closed his eyes, trying to lose himself in the fond memories just for a little while longer. It didn't work as well as he'd hoped, soon the memories shifted from happy to bitter-sweet, from father to friends to absent loved ones. These thoughts only added to his melancholy and, deciding enough was enough, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Um, dad?" he called, his voice lacked the determination it usually held "We need to talk."

Jeredy raised his head, straightening in his chair as he did, and met his son's eyes "Of course, Chase. What do you need to talk about?" Those two sentences both felt comfortingly familiar and off at the same time – off, because his father said "need" instead of "want" as he always did before, but, Chase amended, he wasn't a little boy choosing to talk about some problem that could easily be solved with a little help anymore, he was now a leader that had failed his team. He didn't want help, he _needed_ it.

He took another breath, remembering some long-forgotten advice Beyal had once given him about controlled breathing and keeping calm, and began to list his thoughts, everything that bothered him and everything he questioned and doubted about himself – from second guessing all his decisions up until this point to uncertainties of how to go about the future. He had allowed a traitor to roam free, after begrudgingly letting him join their journey, coming to terms that he, arrogant and cocky as he was, was part of the prophecy and then accepting him as a friend, as _family_. And to Chase, family meant more than anything else ever could.

He was at a lost, to say the least. He didn't know what to do, nor how to do what needed to be done. Dax was a traitor, Beyal was still missing and Jinja and Bren were having doubts of their own. Chase didn't blame them – he blamed himself.

When he was finally finished, when everything he needed to voice was said and the last of his breath caught in his throat in his apprehension, Jeredy placed a comforting, steadying hand on his shoulder. Chase met his gaze, the gaze he had avoided since starting to pour his heart out in his little speech. Jeredy looked at him with an expression of fatherly support Chase had so dearly missed during the months of separation.

"Chase," he started slowly, voice both gently and stern "don't do this to yourself," Chase's green eyes widened in confusion, but Jeredy continued before his son could say anything. He smiled, ever so slightly "You don't need to do this by yourself, it's okay to ask for help, from me as much as from Bren or Jinja." Jeredy waited for Chase to nod, making sure his son understood this.

Chase sighed. "I know," he said, then "But I can't. I'm the leader, and I can't just overlook the fact that I failed my team, my friends..." he paused, swallowing past the lump in his throat "I should have seen it coming..."

Jeredy frowned in disapproval "Seen what?" Chase blinked at the abrupt question, taken aback "For all we know, what we've seen might just be an illusion." Chase blinked again, unaccustomed to hearing such cryptic wisdom from anyone but Beyal.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Jeredy just smiled "I think it's time we all talk, share our point of view with one another. You maybe a leader, but you're still part of your team." The reassuring hand was back on his shoulder, and Chase leaned into it. "And Bren and Jinja want to be there for you, just as much as you want to be for them – but you need to let them in."

For the first time in the last few days, Chase felt himself smiled. "Alright."

* * *

Time passed in uneven intervals for Beyal, he spent most of it sleeping or squinting in the dark when awake. They kept him in a room, no light was allowed in here besides when one of them entered, either to give him a rare meal or to taunt and prod him. After a full day on the boat, he was still tied up, uncomfortable, and lying on the cold, metal floor of his prison, but he didn't try to escape. He knew he couldn't, even if he got rid of the restraints, where would he run to? He was on a _ship_, and probably in the middle of the ocean by now, considering how long their voyage was taking. Further more, he didn't know how to navigate a boat or his current location – but the thing that really kept him at bay was that he still didn't understand _why_.

Why had his old friends decided to switch sides? Remembering how close they used to be, all the nights spent sneaking around the temple or stargazing, hurt more than ever since finding out that they were still alive.

He remembered all too clearly that dreaded night - the night Bookman first attacked, how the man's Monsunos ripped through their defenses and how friends and comrades fell all around him.

Beyal shivered at the memory. It had taken a long time for the nightmares to stop, and a even longer time to stop seeing the flashbacks of those horrible events whenever he closed his eyes. The reminders caught him off guard sometimes, when he thought he was free of them and began to adjust to this new, strange world in which the temple was ominously empty and his heart throbbing and void.

And then... then his destiny came into the picture, and team Core-Tech soon followed. He had been weary of them at first, weary of the world outside the temple walls, but he trusted them and, one by one, they made his defenses crumble without even realizing it. They had chased the last of the memories away... now, those memories were coming back to life.

The metal door screeched open, a silhouetted figure stud in the doorway. "Bookman wants to see you," it said, coming closer to Beyal before crouching down to untie his legs "get up," he commanded.

* * *

Zen led him out of the cell and out, into the hallway, his hand on his shoulder in a vise-like grip as he trailed behind Beyal. Kanna was waiting for them outside the door, face impassive as she followed them. They went up a flight of stares, turned a few corners and soon found themselves in front of a door that clearly held Bookman behind it. Once they were in, Zen forced Beyal to sit on the floor before relinquishing his hold.

Out of the corner of his eye, Beyal saw him stand by the door they just came through, Kanna on the opposite side, arms crossed over her chest. They said nothing.

"So, monk-boy," Beyal's head snapped back to stare in front of him, or, more precisely, the person standing in front of him. "Enjoying your stay?" the voice was snide, as always, and Beyal found that he wouldn't mind _punching_ the man in a rare show of aggression.

This man had caused this, caused so much grief and loss and had taken his old friends away, friends that were now betraying him, and had taken _him_ from his new ones, the ones that were now probably worried sick about him. So, yes, Beyal thought the man deserved a punch – he was sure Dax would be delighted to do the honors. The thought quelled his anger slightly – his friends were coming for him, he just needed to wait until they did.

"Nothing to say?" Bookman kept speaking, misinterpreting Beyal's silence "Isn't this what you wanted, you're finally reunited with your 'friends'." Bookman smirked maliciously, Beyal seethed. "Of course, now you're on different sides, which is quite... unfortunate," the wicked smile only grew as he went on "We'll have to remedy that."

For the first time since he entered the room, Beyal's eyes were drawn to the scroll Bookman was holding, and his blood ran cold.

Bookman seemed satisfied with the reaction. "I take it that you already know what this is, then?" Beyal gulped, but nodded, a bit of color draining from his face.

"Forbidden knowledge," Bookman began "from the Tebab Temple is very hard to get by, it is very well guarded and few have even heard of it. Those scrolls hold the secrets answers to things thought impossible until now," he explained, malicious glee dancing across his face as he did. Their eyes met, and Bookman smirked for the umpteenth time "I have only obtained this one, but soon I will have them all..." he came closer, looking down at his prisoner "And you're going to help me."

* * *

Kanna stared indifferently at the boy laying on the floor as Bookman slowly took his will, twisting it to his own desires. Beyal had stopped crying out for his friends, his new ones – Dax, Jinja, Chase and Bren, she had gathered from his useless hollering – and it made her feel strangely empty. She should have been mad at him, which was how she was supposed to feel. She wasn't supposed to have the insane urge to help him, that time was behind her – so why did she still want to help? They were friends once, weren't they?

Unknown to her, her eyes flashed an eerie green, and all thoughts of who she once was were buried, yet again.

**AN: And there you have it, a father/son moment between Chase and Jeredy and yet another twist, but no Dax(sorry, he'll be in the next one), whatcha think?**

**Please Review!**


	20. Where to now?

Thanks to **cheetha suno and wolvesbane**, **GlowBlade998**, **EbonyIvory**, **Kryst**, **JinxGirl25** and **Obsessed with fanfic **for reviewing!

Alright people, so most of you want Bookman to fall of a cliff or something, I agree with you on that one. Anyway, congratulations to **GlowBlade998 **and **JinxGirl25 **for figuring out the twist in the last chapter.

* * *

Where to now?

Dax felt lost. For someone who was never really in touch with his feelings, this was taking it to a whole new level. He didn't understand where he stud in the fray of his emotions, nor did he understand how he could feel so many things at once and yet feel nothing at all.

All that was left was his will. He knew what he wanted – _oh, so desperately_– and he knew how to get it. Nothing could stop him.

As he walked the desert, his thoughts began to wander to the day that started all of this.

_He sat in an armchair in a dull room, his eyes on his small, clenched fists. Why was his mom taking so long? She should have been back by now. The nine-year-old shook his head, she probably just got held up at work._

_As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Dax jumped, startled by the sudden sound, but his face broke into a wide grin as he ran to unlock the door. It swung open, and Dax stopped short. There, instead of his mother, stud a blond woman in a uniform and a write overcoat around her shoulders._

_She looked down at him, Dax fidgeted under her intense gaze "Are you Marie's boy?" she asked in a strange, strained tone. Dax coaxed his head to the side, staring at the stranger "Yeah," he said finally, a bit uncomfortable now. "Who are you? Whacha doin' here?"_

_She said nothing for a while, just stared down at him, Dax stared back._

"_Come with me." she said finally._

That's was his first encounter with Charlemagne. He remembered kicking, screaming and doing everything in between as they dragged him away from his family home. Dax didn't know who his dad was, his mom never talked about him, and he was mad at himself for not asking mom when he could have - it would have been better to stay with him than to be taken to S.T.O.R.M.

His life changed that day, the day mom's boss, Charlemagne, appeared at his door saying his mother had gone missing in action – which was, in Dax's opinion, and easier way to break the news to a kid that their mom wasn't coming back home. And that's how S.T.O.R.M. came into the picture. His mother had been a commander there, the predecessor to Commander Trey, and Charlemagne's right hand.

Charlemagne had often compared her new commanders to Marie, saying how they weren't even closer to her level. It made Dax proud, to a point, and it did help him settle in a bit. S.T.O.R.M. wasn't the ideal home and Charlemagne wasn't the ideal adoptive mother, but he thought it could have worked – then. Now he wondered why he hadn't just ran away _sooner_.

Charlemagne had taught him all he knew about many things, Monsunos as one of the most important, but she had taken too much in return – and Dax was determined to get it back.

_The keyboard clicked rhythmically as his fingers hit its' buttons with much less speed and grace than when Bren was doing the hacking – which was ironic, Dax thought, because he would have never put the words "grace" and "Bren" in the same sentence before. The words, numbers and codes spiraled so quickly on the screen that he could barely keep up – but there was nothing on Beyal or if they took him, which meant that they_ probably_ didn't. Still, Dax wanted to make sure. He opened another file, the one that held Charlemagne's personal agenda and began reading as quickly as he could. There was nothing particularly interesting in it, though some information was useful. There were lists of employees, weaponry, Monsunos, plans on new bases, plans for capturing Monsunos... _Well, hello there!_ Dax smiled,_ jackpot!_ With the last of the information finished downloading, he stud up and sneaked out of the building._

* * *

The oasis in front of him was a welcomed sight after the unrelenting heat of the desert, he smiled to himself. He was here now, one step closer to finding Beyal and proving to team Core-Tech that he was no traitor. Dax chuckled, though the sound held no mirth, as if they would believe him after what he was about to do. But if there was one good thing he learned from Charlemagne, it was to do what was necessary, whether he liked it or not. He didn't like being manipulative, he had vowed not to be an ounce of his former self, of Charlemagne's little puppet. Unfortunately, some things had to be sacrificed for the greater cause.

He only made it a few feet towards the foliage when three figures stepped out from behind the trees. He smiled, peopled were _so_ predictable these days.

"Time to hit the road Jack," he said, taking out one of his cores.

* * *

As it turned out, Bren had the most objective view of the situation. Jinja, on the other hand, wasn't of much help when she kept bottling up her emotions, and the three were quite sure she'd explode soon if she didn't find some outlet. After much debate, yelling and arguing they finally came to a few decisions.

Firstly, Chase, Jinja and Bren would not search for Dax, they all knew all too well that the dark-skinned boy was almost impossible to find when he didn't want to be found. That, and they gave him such a head start while they were sulking about, that they didn't hope of catching up.

Secondly, they'd travel to the Temple of Tebab to ask for help from Master Ey, since he had helped them with things like these and was Beyal's old master.

And lastly, Chase's dad would stay behind. Jeredy had protest vehemently, but Chase was determined to get his point across. It was too dangerous, for Jeredy especially, since S.T.O.R.M. was searching for him, and if it appeared that Chase _hadn't_ found him yet, no one would be the wiser. After much protest, Jeredy agreed, if begrudgingly.

They would leave in three days time.

Please review!


	21. Unexpected Encounters

Thanks to **JinxGirl25**, **cheetha suno and wolfsbane**, **EbonyIvory**, **Myra the Sark**, **GlowBlade998**, **JimStar**, **Malica15 **and **person** for reviewing!

Sorry for the wait, I'll try to get the next on updated on Sunday/Monday - but no promises!

* * *

Unexpected Encounters

He remembered running. His feet moved on their own accord, speeding through the white-and-blue blur that were his surroundings. Where was he running to - he didn't know, he just kept moving, as if unable to stop.

"_Ready to go, kiddo?" _a distant voice echoed, he paused, looking around wildly for the source. He had heard the voices a few times before, they were faint at first, barely a whisper in his mild, but grew louder with each call. He still couldn't tell where they were coming from. He gazed out, the white beneath his feet and the blue above his head, the two meeting with each other somewhere in the distance, suddenly became dotted with splotches of color – red, blue, beige, brown were only a few he could discern.

What were they? He squinted, trying to distinguish the images in the snow – because the white blur could only be the snow, and the blue one was the sky. The blotches sharpened gradually, though the image was still unclear. The dots in the snow, some small and some giant – _people and Monsunos, he realized - _ were running around each other, fighting. He frowned, why were they fighting?

In that moment, sound decided to return to his world and he found himself running again, sprinting away. But there was nowhere to run to, everywhere around him friends battled foe with their Monsunos, defending their home – but, home wasn't safe anymore. They were fighting to keep home safe, and why wasn't he helping them?

Sky stopped in his tracks when the image abruptly became crystal clear, the sounds so shrill that his head throbbed. He clutched his head in his hands, doubling over – _what was happening to him?_

"_MOVE!" _it was that voice again, the one that he heard the most often – strong and safe and home – but this time it was panicked, afraid. Why was it afraid? Before he could ponder that question any further, a weight crashed into his side, sending him off balance and making him fall. He looked up, alarmed, from his new position in the snow, to see a familiar figure being flung away from him by a red beast – _Monsuno_.

The figure fell quite a distance away from him, and stayed there, unmoving. Sudden panic overflowed him and he desperately tried to get to his feet and get to the fallen man. There was a rumble, and then a roar, and the last he saw before he started awake was all-consuming white.

* * *

His eyes flew open as he jerked awake, the cool sweat still lingering on his forehead. He blinked as his vision adjusted to the light, the high ceiling above coming into focus. He propped himself with his elbows, trying to sit up and take in his surroundings – _and where was he anyway?_ The world tilted dangerously then, and he plopped down on the mattress, still dizzy and let out a groan.

"Sky?" a voice called to the right of the bed, soft and feminine. There was a shuffle of feet and a rustle of fabric before a face came into his field of vision. "Sky? Can you hear me?" he groaned in response, unwilling to form a verbal response to the woman's questions – Ella_, his mind supplied, her name is Ella_.

* * *

A week passed since he woke up, and he was better now – still, better wasn't enough for Ella, and she kept him in the infirmary for a few days before sending him to his room, bedridden. Helen came by whenever she was able, every day and at all hours. She filled him in on everything he had missed since Bookman's first attack.

About the casualties, about the disperse of the remaining number of monks for fear of discovery, about Beyal – about why Beyal had left.

Beyal... he had liked that kid. Sky would always get a bit flustered around people, old or new, but the boy had had patience to see him out of his shell. Beyal was one he could count among the few that truly knew him. Now he was out in the world, fulfilling his destiny and helping the others into their own. He missed his company, his calm. Helen and Ella visited him the most frequently, and sometimes Master Ey would come around to see him when he wasn't too busy – but Helen was too moody and Ella just smothered him.

There were many things he missed now that he was awake, free of the oblivion sleep had provided him with. In his dreams, Trax was still smiling and joking and _alive_ – and he kept to the hope that he still was, little as that hope may be. The avalanche had been fierce, sweeping both sides from the mounting like a tidal wave, many had drowned – but still, he kept that small glimmer of hope next to his heart. Those who had reemerged had gone to several hideouts, only a few in each, so there was a lesser chance of being discovered by Bookman.

He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to lose himself in happier times. _The wind blew gently over the waves, guiding and distorting the surface. The ocean and the sky seemed to meet far in the distance – ocean and sky, one above and one below; ocean and sky, ocean and... "...Sky?"_

His eyes snapped open, roaming the room in search of the person who had spoken – he found no one.

"Hello?" he called, brow furrowing in confusion. Had he just imagined it?

"_Help... they'll be there soon... help... guide... please..." _the voice pleaded, eerily familiar. Sky strained his ears to hear more. "Hello?" he called again, still trying to find the speaker "Who's there? What do you want?" there was no answer for a while.

"_Please... Sky..." _and with that, it was silent again. Sky called for it a couple of times, but it did not answer. Feeling uneasy, he drifted off to sleep hours later.

* * *

Ella rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, groaning. Who in their right mind was up this late at night? Stifling a yawn, she climbed out of bed. She knew she was most likely the only one who heard the knock on the front door of the temple, her room was positioned so just for that reason. She dressed as quickly as she could, not wanting to keep whoever was out there waiting. Perhaps some of the others had returned, though, she had a feeling it wasn't so. She'd find out soon enough, she decided. Only a few knew of this location, and Master Ey trusted them all, as such, she did as well.

She went down the stairs and to the front entrance, trying to look as presentable as she could in the early hours of predawn. Her hair was a bit tangled, but otherwise straight, and the darkness would hide the dark bags beneath her eyes. Without further hesitation, she opened the door.

* * *

It was late, Chase knew it was late, and yet he still insisted that they keep going. '_Just because he could sleep doesn't mean he should drag us out of our sleeping bags' _Bren thought irritably. Okay, _maybe_ he _was_ being a little harsh. Chase was worried about Beyal and he wanted to get to the temple as soon as possible – still, why couldn't he have let them sleep for just a little while longer? Bren suppressed a sigh, compared to Jinja, Chase was _tolerable._ They were all on edge, Dax's betrayal still fresh on their hearts – they just wanted their friends back, their family – event just one of the two.

They reached the temple a few hours before sunrise, the night chill thick in the crisp, mountain air. They made it – finally! There three of them stood before the doors for a few minutes, panting and exhausted. Bren was ready to collapse, and he was pretty sure Chase and Jinja were too. After stretching sore muscles, Chase made for the door and knocked. There was no answer for a while and Bren began to think that the monks were indeed wiser than them just for staying in bed – but then a light flickered in the window just above the temple doors, signaling that someone had heard them and they could soon (_finally)_ get some rest. Bren would have jumped in joy were he not so tired.

A few minutes later, the door cracked open, but Bren could see who was standing on the threshold because Chase was blocking the view. Chase made no move to go inside however, and he didn't even greet the person who had come to let them in. Bren frowned "Um, Chase, bud, aren't we gonna go inside?"

Chase didn't answer, did even register he was spoken to – all he could see was the woman standing in front of him, shock-still. He had dreamed about that auburn hair that cascaded down her back, the soft, lavender dress and bright emerald eyes that were so much like his own. In a choked whisper, he called:

"M-mom?" and hoped he wasn't dreaming.

Please review!


	22. Mother

Thanks to **cheetha suno and wolvesbane**, **JinxGirl25**, **Guest**, **EbonyIvory **and **Malica15 **for reviewing!

* * *

Mother

Shock. Disbelief. Hope. Dread. Those were the emotions coursing through him as he gazed at the woman standing before him. The brunette with soft, fair skin and warm emerald eyes. It was a dream. It had to be a dream, because he never saw his mother outside of them. He was distantly aware that Bren and Jinja were still there, but everything else seemed irrelevant compared to his mother's presence. His mother was _right there_! Wasn't she? It was a dream, so she would disappear soon, as if she was never there in the first place. But... she was still _there_.

Her auburn hair framed her delicate face, but that face was now different than when it visited his dreams – it had gone deathly pale, those soft eyes were wide with shock. That expression was wrong, Chase thought, that face was supposed to be calm and smiling and reassuring. A sudden jolt went through him, a hope cutting through his thoughts that _maybe_ this was _real._ But that hope was then followed by another feeling – fear. Fear that this really was a dream and that his mother would disappear the moment he tried to reach for her.

Chase swallowed, taking in his mother's features again – pale and disbelieving. The hope rekindled and _please let this be _real_. _He took a tentative, almost fearful, step towards her – she tensed, but stayed where she was – and he took another. When they were close enough, just an arm's length away, he reached out to touch her. His hand was shaking, he realized, but paid it no mind – the only thing that mattered now was his mother, _please, _please _be _real, he begged inwardly.

The back of his hand feathered over her cheek, the touch so soft it was barely there – but _she _was _there!_ He let out a choked cry, somewhere between a laugh in a sob, and launched himself at her, hugging her as tightly as he could. She snapped out of her daze the moment that sound left his lips and she wrapped her arms around his as well, silent tears running down her cheeks as she held him in her embrace.

Chase didn't know how long they stayed like that.

* * *

Jinja wanted to cry. It was just so... wonderful. Bren sniffled next to her, and she wrapped on arm over his shoulders. She needed something solid to hang on to know this wasn't an illusion – to know that they had really made it to the Temple of Tebab and that Chase had found his mother at last. She was happy for him, crying and smiling at the same time.

And for a moment, she though that maybe everything _would_ be fine - but then reality ruined the moment. Beyal was still missing, that's why they were here, because they needed help. Beyal needed help. Beyal was in Charlemagne's clutches now – he could be hurt. Jinja couldn't stand that thought.

She wondered distractedly if Beyal knew about Chase's mother being here, but pushed the though away – he would have told them if he knew, of that she was sure. Maybe he didn't realize who the woman was, Chase had never said anything specific about his mom, so Beyal couldn't know – or, maybe, she had come here after Beyal left. He had been away from home for quite a while.

A frown crossed Jinja's still tear-stained face – she had never thought of this place as though it could be home to anyone. But it _was_, it was _Beyal's _home. She looked at the many windows peeking out of the snow and wondered which one was Beyal's. While this place was smaller than the original temple, it was better concealed. It was a sanctuary. Beyal's sanctuary... and she hoped it would be theirs as well.

* * *

Sky hadn't the faintest idea what had woken him up. _It might be Helen, _he thought _I really need to get that girl a watch._ Helen had made a habit of popping in on him every now and then, even late in the evening – whenever it suited her fancy. He yawned, looking around to see what woke him. To his surprise, there was no one else in the room. He frowned in confusion, _then what in the world could have-?_

"_Help… Guide… Book… be there soon… Book…" _He snapped to attention, fully awake, when he heard those whispers. Still, he could find no one in the room besides him. His frowned deepened, there wasn't anyone here, so how could…? A thought occurred to him then, and he mentally smacked himself for being so stupid as to not see it before.

He lays back down and closes his eyes, concentrating – _listening._ For a while, nothing happens, _"Hello? Are you still there?" _nothing _"Can you hear me?"_ no response, and Sky was just beginning to suspect that maybe it was just his imagination – he knew better, though. He got up then, intent on finding Master Ey, and made his way out of his room. He was halfway down the corridor when something caught his attention.

He heard the sound of a door opening on the other side of the hallway, from the opposite direction of where he was headed. He stopped and listened to the light padding of feet before they descended the stairwell to the main entrance room. Someone was at the door, he realized, and only Ella could hear when they had visitors at odd hour.

…_they'll be there soon…_ those were the words the voice had whispered; perhaps this was what it had meant? He didn't know, but he was about to find out. He turned on his heel, creeping over to the stairwell and following the path Ella had taken a few minutes earlier.

He found the left part of the double doors open, which was odd since Ella never left anyone in the cold and always closed it if she was going out, though she had no reason to be out at this hour. Confused and a little anxious, Sky tiptoed over to the door, poking his head out cautiously.

He stopped short at the sight that greeted him. There, on the threshold, stood Ella, with a boy who couldn't have been much younger than Sky, held tightly in her arms. She was crying, and, Sky noted, so was the boy.

He surveyed the scene further, noticing for the first time the two that stood off to the side. A boy and a girl, similar in high and age but nothing more, stud side-by-side, gazing at Ella and the boy with a range of emotions playing on their faces.

Finally, the girl noticed him. She tensed, looking back to the two on the threshold. It was obvious to Sky she didn't want to tear the two apart just yet. From the looks of it, the boy was important to Ella – why, he didn't know, but he was content to wait until morning for an explanation. He inclined his head to the still-open door, gesturing for the girl and boy to follow. He would lead them to the spare bedchambers. Ella wound take care of the raven-haired boy, he had no doubt.

* * *

"We should go inside," Chase raised his head from where it was resting on his mother's shoulder. He didn't register what she had said to him, only that her voice was as sweet and gentle as her still-tear-stained face.

He still couldn't believe it was real, _she _was _real_.

"Well, are you coming or not?" he blinked at the question, finally registering just how cold he was. Unable to form any words, he nodded and let his mother lead him into the temple. She held his hand as they walked, Chase was glad for the contact; it was the only thing grounding him, a reminder that this was not just one of his fantasies.

A few minutes later, they reached a spare bedroom that was just across the hall from his mother's. Her grip loosened as she took a step towards her own room, but Chase didn't let go, if anything, he held on even tighter. Chase didn't want to let go, he was too afraid that, if he let go, his mother would disappear again. He still had trouble comprehending that this was not a dream, and that he wouldn't wake up any second now to find her gone.

His mom only smiled. Then, with a slight tug at his wrist she lead him into his own room. She steered him to the center of the chamber, where the bed was, and Chase finally realized just how exhausted he was – still, he didn't want her to go.

But he was just so tired, he didn't have the will to protest as she gently seated him on the edge of the mattress before laying him down. He sank into the bed, sleep slowly creeping into his tired mind – but he was still unwilling to let go. Exhaustion won in the end, but this hand was still in his mother's grasp long after he fell asleep. She didn't let go.

Next chapter should be up on Wednesday! Please Review!


	23. Morning Meetings

A big THANK YOU to **author12306 **for pointing out my mistakes (I promise I'll go back and fix them later)! Also, thanks to **EbonyIvory**, **cheetha suno and wolfsbane**, **JinxGirl25**, **GlowBlade998** and **JimStar **for reviewing!

Sorry for the long wait, I took me a lot longer than I expected to write this down. Enjoy!

* * *

Morning Meetings

The next morning found Bren and Jinja in the temple's dinning hall. They were seated at the table by the window, facing each other, when Sky returned with a tray of food. The boy set the table in silence, placing five bowls of porridge along the table. The six bowl, the one that was left on the tray, he took and excused himself "I will be back when I deliver Master Ey's breakfast to him," he was out the doorway a moment later.

Bren picked unenthusiastically at his food, dragging the spoon through the mushy substance. Jinja just glared at her bowl, her arms folded over the table. Finally, after what felt like an age, Bren raised his gaze to stare at Jinja "So, um, what should we do?" he asked, a bit tentatively.

Jinja barely spared him a glance "Wait for Chase," she said simply. They did, and some time later, the teen in question came, yawning, into the room.

He smiled when he saw his teammates "Good morning!" he said, stretching his arms above his head. The two at the table also murmured their greetings, but the tense atmosphere did not lift. Chase, however, was oblivious to it. "I can't remember the last time I slept so well," he yawned as he sat besides Bren, picking up his own spoon and taking a bite of their meal "or the last time I slept in an actual bed." commented offhandedly. He failed to spur the other two into the conversation.

A few minutes after breakfast, Sky came back into the dinning hall and led them to a grand chamber where both Master Ey and Ella, Chase's mom, sat at a low table on their knees. Ey nodded his greetings as the four sat down beside them. Chase sat next to Ella.

Chase hadn't asked her anything yet, but Bren wasn't sure why. He guessed that, maybe, his best friend just wanted to cling to this moment of bliss, before the confusing and emotional, and no doubt painful, explanations sullied it. _Because_, Bren mused, _the woman had no motive to just up and disappear... leaving a little boy just like that_, he added with some bitterness, knowing how much her absence had affected Chase in their childhood – how it affected him after as well.

Mother and son sat, side-by-side, a content smile on each of their faces. Opposite them, he and Jinja sat in a more somber mood, and beside them, Sky and a girl, a few years younger than them by the looks of it, sat in silence – Master Ey facing them.

When they were all comfortable, Ella looked expectantly at Master Ey. The old man gave a slight nod.

"Chase Suno and friends," he addressed them in a serious tone "Your visit is most unexpected, but nonetheless welcome, as always," his murky green eyes seemed to bore into Chase as he fixed him with a stare "But I can sense you come bearing bad news, pray tell, what has happened for you to seek our help?"

That snapped Chase out of his daze, Bren thought with a hint of satisfaction. He knew his best friend, knew how much finding his mother meant to him – but he also knew that they just couldn't forsake the matter at hand. The all too fresh sting of Dax's betrayal and Beyal's disappearance never quite left his troubled mind. The last thing they needed right now was for Chase to loose focus.

"Huh?" he blinked, as if just processing he was spoken to, then "Oh, right. Yeah." A brief smile played on Bren's lips, for once, it was Chase who was flustered and not him. Jinja flashed him a look. A silence followed after that, serious and tense, as the assembled monks waited for their guest's explanations.

Finally, Chase said "We're here because... because we need your help,"

Master Ey raised an eyebrow "That much is apparent," he said, prompting Chase to continue.

An unreadable expression crossed Chase's face, he hesitated for a second, but relented "I-" he cut himself off abruptly, then, after taking a calming breath, tried again. "Beyal's missing, Dax betrayed us and team Core-Tech is a wreck," every word was underlain with barely suppressed emotions. It was the bluntest way that any of them had ever said it.

Ella's face was sympathetic, the other two monks looked both curious and wary, only Ey's face remained impassive. "Then you must reunite with your team members, the Five cannot stand divided if the prophecy-"

That was the wrong thing to say.

"PROPHECY?!" Jinja's voice rang out in the giant, empty room, her blue eyes blazing. "Our FRIEND is missing and YOU EXPECT US TO JUST FORGIVE A TRAITOR?!" Chase stared, Bren gawked and the rest of the room was left speechless – but it wasn't enough for Jinja. "The prophecy is _meaningless!_"

"I suggest you think before you speak girl," came a voice from the far end of the table, cutting Jinja off. "The prophecy could be the exact reason that this is happening." Helen explained in a sharp tone.

Jinja scowled at the younger girl. "Oh yeah? Well-" Chase and Bren regained their senses just then, and Bren instantly held Jinja down to prevent her from doing anything she might regret later.

"Let me go, Bren!" she cried indignantly, waving her hands to free them of his.

"Jinja, stop it!" Chase ordered, and surprisingly, Jinja obeyed. She glared angrily at him "Don't tell me you believe this?" she demanded "Are you seriously just gonna forgive and forget?" her voice was a mixture of anger and incredibility.

Chase returned her glare "Does it matter? The fact is, we aren't a team anymore. We can't function as we used to, and I want to get things sorted!" he exclaimed, voice rising as he finished "I want answers Jinja! I want to know _what_ happened to Beyal and I want to know _why_ Dax did what he did – but holding _grudges_ won't get us anywhere!"

Jinja looked taken aback, anger slowly ebbing away. Chase's shoulders slacked a tiny bit "If they can help us," he said, looking around the room "I'm ready to believe them." The statement seemingly diffused any further arguments and they went back to business. Chase explained everything, from the begging to the end, starting with Beyal's strange vision that caused him to collapse to Dax's betrayal and all the events leading up to coming here. All the while, the four monks listened, their expressions thoughtful.

When Chase finished, Master Ey gave a curt nod, as if confirming something to himself. "And, that is all that has happened?" he asked, not unkindly.

Chase seemed taken aback by the question. He blinked, before a guilty look crossed his face and he lowered his eyes to the table. "Um, well... not exactly" he said uneasily.

Bren raised his eyebrows, a curious glint in his eyes – that was all as far as he knew.

Chase shifted in his seat "Ah, you see... I – I used to have these visions of..." his eyes shifted to Ella "of my mom and... I stopped having them a while back, even before this mess." He paused, as if searching for the right words "With everything going on, I didn't even notice all that much – but then I heard it, but I didn't see anything. It was weird and at first I thought nothing of it. A voice, saying something I couldn't quite catch. I thought it was a dream. I heard it only once after that, a few hours later, calling to me. I brushed it off again, and I haven't heard from it since."

Ella and Master Ey exchanged a glance and a silent understanding passed between the two. "Those vision you have experienced previously, they were massages your mother sent you." Ey explained slowly.

Jinja frowned, just as confused as the others "Messages? But how-?"

"Through thoughts" the old man said simply, looking at the woman at his right "She's a telepath." There was a pause, Ey's eyes landed on Chase once more "And so are you."

The look on Chase's face was priceless, and the room was filled with laughter, though it was a bit hysterical. Bren wiped a tear from his eye, only after that did he realize that everyone in the room was staring at him. He chuckled nervously "Heh, that was a good one!"

Master Ey just raised an eyebrow at him "It is no joke." He said seriously, turning to Chase again "You have inherited your gift from your mother, and you have more potential than you realize." His eyes, deep green that always seemed to hold that hollow, far-away look, roamed over the table "Ella came here in her mid teens, and it was too late for her telepathy to manifest to grater levels because of her age. Telepaths are trained from a young age, you see. It is amazing that she succeeded in learning to control her abilities when she did." His eyes sought Chase again "Now it is time for you to learn."

Chase blinked, his mind already overloaded with the new information and the numberless questions bubbling up in his brain. "Me?" he asked, his tone uncertain.

Ey nodded "Yes, Sky here," he inclined his head towards the boy sitting across from him "is a telepath as well, and he is better suited to train you than Ella."

This only served to confuse Chase even more "Train?"

"You will learn to control and, in time manipulate that ability."

Chase frowned, but Bren was the one to voice the question weighing on their minds "And, how does this help us find Beyal?"

A brief smile flashed on the old man's face, but it was gone before anyone could even confirm that they actually saw it "Why, it is the sole tool that you will use to find Beyal."

"How?" Jinja was the one who posed the question this time.

"I believe that's when I come in," Sky piped up, the three friends looked at him, they had almost forgotten he were even there "You see, Chase Suno," he said "you are not the only one to hear this voice." Chase gave him a curious look, prompting him to go on "I, too, have heard it. I did not realize who it was until you mention it just now." He made contact with his Master then "I believe it to be Beyal."

Master Ey said nothing, confirming the assumption with a slight nod of the head.

Chase exchanged incredulous glances with his teammates, both of whom looked just as shocked by the revelation. "Beyal?" Jinja breathed in a small, hopeful voice. For once, Bren didn't know what to say.

Ey seemed satisfied that no one was refusing to believe what was being said "Yes, children, I believe it is so. Sky can tell you more later, when you are better acquainted, you should be able to divulge a solution, and then a plan of action."

He waved his hand in dismissal "Now go, I wish you luck with your first lesson, Chase Suno." He said before standing up and heading towards the archway to the left. Ella stood up as well "I have some duties to attend to" she said, kissing Chase on his forehead "I'll see you at dinner." And then she followed Master Ey out, leaving the five teens with their own, troubled thoughts.

A few twists in this chapter, be ready for more! Please review!


	24. Echoes come in whispers

Thanks to **Myra the Sark**, **cheetha suno and wolfsbane**, **EbonyIvory **(and **reenaawesomegill **too), **JinxGirl25**, **author12306**, **JimStar **and **Malica15 **for reviewing!

Hey people, my birthday's coming up soon, so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up - meanwhile, hope you like this!

Echoes come in whispers

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Helen cleared her throat. The sound seemed to snap everyone out of the uncomfortable, and somewhat tense, silence. The two monks stood from the table, followed closely by their three guests, and Sky led the way to another chamber. The room was like any other in the temple, spacious and bare. Tall windows lined the right wall, giving the gray stone a silver, almost white shine. There was a low table at the center of the room, but it was much smaller than the one they were seated before – and there were only two cushions. "Why are there only-?" Chase turned to look at his friends as he spoke, only to find that Bren and Jinja weren't behind him. He frowned "Where are-?"

"Your friends?" Sky smiled slightly. "Helen thinks they'd be of use elsewhere, and she's right." Sky sat down then, gesturing for Chase to do the same. Chase did, a bit reluctantly. "Okay, let's get started."

There rest of the day went by in a blur. Chase was vaguely aware of his friends comings and goings. Helen, as it turned out, decided that there was no point in them just sitting here while Chase practiced, so she shipped them of somewhere to work. And, as Bren will tell him later, she was a pile driver. "I've never cleaned so many shelves before." he'd complain "How can books be so _heavy_, anyway?"

Now, however, most of his concentration was directed to mastering his new-found ability. Sky had explained the basics to him. How one had to be familiar with another to be able to send telepathic messages between them. The rest was fairly interesting – Chase tried to soak up as much knowledge as he was able, all the while anxiety lurked in the back of his mind. It was already well past noon when Sky decided to start training – and training turned out to be _meditating._

"And... how is this supposed to help me?" he asked, barely fifteen seconds after closing his eyes.

"It will help you concentrate." It was the only answer he got – terse and meaningless, at least to him. He spent the days meditating, and his teammates spent them doing Sky's chores (since he was too busy to do them all) and other household tasks of cleaning, rearranging books, making meals and the odd job or two. After breakfast on the third day, he followed Sky as he usually did, until the boy headed down the wrong hallway. "Where are you going? The training room is this way?" he asked, pointing at the opposite direction.

Sky just gave him one of his mild, barely there smiles "I think it's time for a change of scenery, don't you?" and went down the hall.

"Change of scenery", unfortunately for Chase, actually turned out to be an underground river, which was the temple's main water source. It was warmer than in the temple, due to the water's being thermal, but the sound of rushing water and droplets of it constantly falling from the ceiling was _not _helping him focus.

As if on cue, another drop fell on his nose, breaking his concentration all over again. He growled, turning to Sky, who sat beside him "This is pointless! What the heck is this supposed to accomplish?"

"I told you, this will teach you how to concentrate." He answered, but otherwise kept meditating, as if the rest of the world didn't exist for him. Chase huffed in agitation, but he was already familiar with this kind of situation, after spending everyday with Beyal and the others for the last few months, he knew well enough which habits he couldn't kill and what ways will never change - so just settled for a withering glare. There was a pang of longing somewhere in Chase's heart, reminding him of his lost friend. Beyal was always oblivious to the world around him when meditating, and nothing could distract him. Chase blinked as another drop fell on his nose again.

Distraction...

He sneaked a sideways glance at his companion _"I told you, this will teach you how to concentrate."_

_So that's what he meant_, Chase thought, closing his eyes again _No distractions, just focus on one thing... _but what was he supposed to concentrate on? There were so many thoughts whirling around in his mind that he didn't know from which to choose. The events of the past few weeks came crashing down then, his mind now free for the images to ravage free. _No,_ Chase chastised himself sternly _I'm not gonna think about it, everything will turn out fine once we find Beyal._ He didn't want to think about the 'if's.

He pushed those restless thoughts away for a moment, trying to find something happier to concentrate on. For a blissful moment, where it was unable to find a topic, his mind was blank.

"_Focus on nothing, keep an open mind." _His eyes snapped open, and he looked expectantly at Sky, only to realize that the boy was in the same position as he was before – unmoving like a statue.

* * *

Bren set the pile of books on the table with a loud _thud_, causing an explosion of dust that made him sneeze. "Seriously, how do librarians stand all this dust?" he asked irritably.

Jinja raised an eyebrow at him, smirking to herself "You seem perky today." Bren glared at her, fuming. Her smirk widened a bit "You just miss Chase being here, so you can split the work load."

Before Bren could retort, a shout came a few rows down "No chit-chatting! We have work to do people!" Helen yelled from the latter she was climbing down from.

Bren deflated a bit at that, and went back to the many shelves that needed to be dusted, shoulders still tense.

Jinja watched him for a second, broom in hand, before sighing "I miss him to", she said quietly, when Bren was out of earshot "all of them."

* * *

"It's called the open channel." Sky explains.

"Open channel?" Chase repeats, a bit unsure.

Sky nods. "Yes. If the one you're sending a message to isn't thinking or concentrating on something else, it's easier to communicate. Hence the term 'open', if that someone is distracted it's considerably harder, sometimes almost impossible, to make contact - so you could say it's 'closed', in that case."

Chase frowns a bit "So... my mom sent my messages in my dreams because my mind was the clearest then, right?" he asked hesitantly, trying to reason out how it all functioned.

Sky seemed pleased "You learn quickly."

Chase smiled to himself. He could do this, he knew he could.

* * *

Time passed, too much time, and yet he was still trapped here. His limbs moved on their own, his lips spilling word he didn't mean to say. He didn't know how much longer he could endure this.

His mind was a prisoner of his body, and Beyal was helpless to do anything about it. He did everything Bookman told him to do, though not willingly – _never _willingly. He was his pawn, but he wouldn't bow down.

Still, the doubts sometimes managed to crawl beneath his defenses. Where were they? When would they save him? Why hadn't they saved him yet?

He didn't know, and Bookman made sure to taunt him about him. He raged inside, but no hurt showed on the exterior – it didn't need to, Bookman knew.

The forbidden scroll told him everything he needed to know. The text written on it told him how to control his victim, but his motions only – totally forsaking the will of the person it was being used on. But, in time, if he succumbed to the spell, he'd served him in mind too.

Beyal wasn't going to let that happen. Still, he wished his friends would hurry and help him soon.

* * *

As his training progressed, so did his control over his abilities – though they were still pretty weak compared to Sky's. If he continued at this pace, he was pretty sure he'd make his mom's level by a month in a half, maybe two, from now. True, she wasn't very powerful, but had enough skill to send long distance messages – but, when he thought about it, that had less to do with her level of skill and more to do with the fact that they were family – which made contact much, much easier than between people who weren't blood.

Still, he couldn't even sent clear message over a distance that was over five meters, which managed to impress both Sky and his mother, given he had only started training two weeks ago. But still, he didn't have two months!

Who knew what could be happening to Beyal right now? Chase didn't want to think about it, even if his thoughts often strayed to his missing friend and distracted him enough to lose concentration during his lessons.

In the end of the day, he grits his teeth and pressed on.

So engrossed in his thoughts, Chase didn't hear the whispered conversation Ella and Sky were having in the hallway.

"Do we tell him?" Sky asked, tentatively, looking at his student in the next room. Ella looked just as uncertain as him, but shook her head. It wasn't time, yet – though she wished it was.

_The room was lit only by a few candles, dark and ominous as it's three occupants gathered around the table. The mood was grave and somber while they waited for the oldest to speak._

"_Shall we begin then?" Master Ey prompted._

_At his words, Ella and Sky held each others hands over the table, closing their eyes and concentrating on a single person. The physical contact helped them in their combined efforts at communicating telepathically with their target._

_It took them longer than Sky expected to grab the conception. What was even stranger was the instability of it. "Beyal?" he called out to his friend._

_There was no answer for a few moments, and Sky had just opened his mouth to call again - when abruptly__, the silence was filled with a loud screech that made Sky's ears bleed. He unconsciously let go of Ella's hands and covered his ears with his own, consequentially braking the connection. He bent over himself, trying to block out the painful sound from him memory. Ella looked just as shaken._

"_Someone's blocking the connection." She whispered._

Just to make something clear, I'm taking my time with this story - I don't want to rush in and ruin it when I've already got this far. By the way, what do you think of Sky(I know the name is redundant, but I couldn't think of anything better at the time) and Helen? Don't forget to drop me a review, please!


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